The rabbiting
by Daiskida
Summary: With her plans foiled and Zootopia back on track, Bellwether thought it was all over for her. Until she was offered help from a new source. Thus, the rabbit season is opened and Judy Hopps is the main target.
1. Chapter 1: A wolf in sheeps clothing

Authors edit: So, this is a little collab project I started with , 'cause I wasn't feeling much of a drive with my other story. But this one oddly got my juices running. So, I hope you enjoy it!

Zootopia – Disney

My OC – Me

Story - and me

It's amazing how a well put plan could fall apart so easily. Everything was made to be perfect: A hero bunny to be the pariah and a glowing star of the precinct, a specially prepared toxin that would make all those big-headed predators go insane and seemingly revert to their natural instincts. Then, during all the chaos, she would swoop in and usher a new age where the prey would dominate the predators like they should have. But, it all fell apart because of that damn bunny and that filthy goddamn fox, who sent all of her careful planning down the plughole. Now, Bellwether was stuck in this godforsaken prison, among all manners of degenerate scum. However, thanks to her innocent-like appearance and sharp wit, it didn't take long before she was the highest thing in the "food chain" so to speak. Within just a few months she again felt like she was in control, having earned the respect of quite a few like-minded and considerably brawnier inmates. Nobody dared to tease-fully touch her fluffy hair or spit in her food like before, the only ill words directed to her were in whispers and she (to her outer most relief) had no fear of dropping the soap in the showers anymore.  
But still, there was one thing she wanted and one thing only: to get her revenge on that damn bunny and her little fox-friend. However, the issue was that in order to get said revenge she had to get out of this prison. Every plan she come up with so far had boiled down to one simple problem: she was in prison, and those two were outside.

Sitting in her cell, Bellwether amused herself with the one thing she was allowed to do freely in this place: reading. She had to admit that for a prison they did offer her a good selection of reading material. Course, a lot of books were off hands for her, but still some old stories and literature was enough to keep the time going. Her favorite-book was The Count of Mono-Cristo, which she had read once in high school, and now appreciated for very different reasons than her past, adolescent self did. After all, it's main-character was someone wrongfully arrested, who after years of imprisonment had managed to escape the hellish prison and return to his home and have his revenge against those who sent him there in the first place.  
The sheep's ears twitched as she heard footsteps approaching her cell. Raising her head from Alexandre Dumas literary classic, she saw a guard standing before her door. Flashing an innocent smile, she put her book aside and adjusted her glasses.

"Well hello Elric, is it lunch time already? What am I getting today, oh tell me it's something special~" She asked, trying to make her voice sound as soft and polite as possible.  
The guard didn't even give her a hint of a smile, as he put the key into her cell door.

"You have a visitor, Bellewether, it seems your lawyer has finally arrived, one by the name of Sally Babou." He muttered, not sounding the least bit pleased about it. Bellwether in response looked quite surprised.

A lawyer, for her?! Who would be crazy enough to take HER case?! That name sure didn't ring any bells, Bellwether had memorized every single lawyer in the whole of Zootopia. And last time she checked, every single one of them had turned down her case. Even prey that sympathized with her wasn't gonna touch this with thirty-nine and a half foot pole and run the risk of defending the infamous "Sheep in Wolf's clothing" as the media so cleverly had dubbed her.  
So, now the ewe's curiosity was at quite a peak to see who was brave enough to side with her. In fact, she was so curious that she didn't even bother to bore the guard with her trademark pleasant chattering as she'd usually do. As they approached the conversation room, the guard looked down at her with a cold gaze.

"You have exactly fifteen minutes, Bellwether, so hope you make 'em count 'causer I doubt even she will get your fluffy butt out of here." He said, opening the door for her. Flashing her usual, political smile, Bellwether stepped inside and instantly froze.

Inside the small room sat a figure which had clearly been waiting for her, but what surprised Bellwether were two things:  
One was the species of her visitor, who was a female ocelot. By her age Bellwether would have put her somewhere in her twenties. And second, was she was wearing a formal looking suit, which for the ewe was a rare sight when it came to women.  
Both those factors began ringing bells of alarm inside Bellwether's head. The fact that a predator would actually step up to defend her felt unreal, like something straight out of an episode of The Twilight Zone or Alfred Hitchcock Presents.  
Approaching the table, Bellwether then took a seat and in silence studied the feline, who meanwhile was looking for something in her briefcase. She took up and placed a piece of paper and a blue ink-pencil on the table between them before closing the briefcase and flashing the sheep a gentle smile.

"So, you must be Miss Bellwether. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance~" She said in a polite tone, as Bellewether caught hints of a foreign accent. She couldn't place it's exact origin, but the rolling R:s and hissing S:s suggested that the ocelot was of European descent. "It would seem your case is quite interesting, and I doubt anyone would be able to get you out of this… Mmm… Jam, shall we say?"

As she talked, Bellwether tried her best to figure out what was this young woman's deal, for there was something clearly off about her, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. Her body language wasn't giving anything away about her, the polite tone and soft expression made her seem very friendly and gentle. But, there was still something that didn't seem right about her, and Bellewether was gonna find out what it was.

"Alright, cut the act already. I've known my fair share of lawyers, and I can tell you aren't one them. So, who are you really?" Bellwether finally spoke, stopping the ocelot in mid-conversation.

Letting out a soft chuckle, which sounded more like purr, the ocelot crossed her fingers together and her eyes narrowed a little bit, her soft smile still remaining on her features.

"I am one who works with one finger, Miss Bellwether. And that finger would be my index finger~" She murmured, and the gears in Bellwether's head began to turn. The sheep's eyes grew wide. Getting a faint nod from the feline, she gulped as she looked around before leaning closer across the table.

"How do I know you're on the level? No offense, but you don't seem like the type who would harm anyone or even bear to see blood." She whispered. It was one thing that Bellwether wasn't, and that was a fool. Nothing about this predator showcased that she could kill or even harm a fly for that matter. She could just be some punk-poser who knew how to ACT bad ass, but who in reality was some con-artist who approached desperate souls in her position, making a bunch of cool promises and then run off with their wallets full and their tails tucked between their legs.

The ocelot gave the sheep a faint smirk, and with one swift move of her hand she had removed a an old campaign button from Bellwether's prison uniform (a memento of her brief time as mayor, which read "The Dawn of a Baah-tter Tommorow"), and before the ewe could utter a 'meep' of surprise, the feline had thrown it and pinned a small fly that had been buzzing around the room.  
Swallowing hard, Bellwether looked to the side, seeing the fly perfectly pinned to the side of the wall, it's black little legs desperately twitching in order to free itself, and then turned her eyes back to the ocelot. The soft smile and gentle expression were still present, but now Bellwether felt a strange, threatening aura surrounding the feline. Despite her youthful and innocent appearance, this was was not someone to be messed with.

Like Bellwether herself, something which the sheep liked.

"Felines strike when it counts." The Ocelot said, crossing her hands together again. "Being unassuming of them is the last act of arrogance you'll ever do"  
Bellwether blinked, and then flashed her own dangerous grin.

"Well, if that's the case, I'm glad that you came here "Sally". I think we'll be able to do some good business together. But, I'm still surprised you'd agree to this. I mean, I'm assuming you know who your targets will be." Bellewether said, getting a faint nod from Sally "So, why would you take this job? I mean, they are heroes who saved… Uh… Your kind and stuff."

"Heh, I fancy myself a professional, miss Bellewether. Your money would still be as green whether they were saints or terrorists. I could care less of whom I'll be sending to the afterlife, and your associates said you'd offer me a very exciting job." Sally responded, and as she continued, it became all the more clear to Bellwether on how and why this girl was here. "So, now the question is how you're going to pay me, and how you want me to do this."

Not wasting anytime, Bellwether quickly grabbed a pen and paper from the ocelot's side of the table and began to scribble something on it with a furious speed. After she was done, she pushed the paper forward, on which a bank account number had been jotted down.

"This was part of my secret fund, that's half your payment. You'll receive the other half once the job is completed." She said, rubbing her palms together, as she could barely hold her excitement. Finally she would be able to get her revenge on those smug little "It's called a hustle sweetheart"-bastards, and this ocelot would be her tool. In fact, maybe she could get this stupid ocelot to take the heat for it and then come out as a hero in some form.

As the ocelot folded the piece of paper and the pocketed it, she suddenly spoke out as if reading the ewe's mind.

"Though keep in mind that I also know of your type, Miss Bellwether." She said, and for the first time since Bellwether had met her, she wasn't smiling. "In the old country, there were only two groups you had to watch out for: The foxes and the sheep. You see, the foxes would always stab you in the back, while the sheep would stab you in the face, while holding a white flag. So, if you're thinking of stabbing me, I suggest you bring a big enough flag for me to see."  
Despite her voice sounding as soft as ever, Bellwether could feel a frost-tipped chill and a distinct blood-thirst emitted from those words, which made the sheep's spine run a tad cold.

But keeping her real feelings way below the surface, and presenting "Sally" with her own sweet smile, the ewe then crossed her palms together and fluttered her eye lashes.

"Oh, don't worry about me ratting pred, this is one lamb who can stay silent~" She said, and felt the feline's aura starting to simmer down and return to a more harmless state. "Now, about the way I want this job done. Do memorize these details, since I don't want any fumbles."

As Bellwether began to speak, inside her mind she was laughing like a maniac. When she woke up this morning, she thought that this day was gonna be another boring and monotone addition to her life behind bars, but now, things seemed like they were about to get REALLY interesting.


	2. Chapter 2: Roller mobster

hapter 2: Roller Mobster

A morning starts differently for everyone; some people enjoy it as a very slow and lazy routine where they spend an extra hour or two in their beds. Others shoot up like lit rockets in the early hours, eat their breakfast in a hurry and rush off to whatever it is that demands them to do so.  
Being the one or the other often reflects the characteristics of said riser and his or her approach to his or hers daily duties, whether it be work, an important meeting, getting to school/college in time or simply catch up to something they've overslept for.  
It's this type of energy that coursed through the veins of pre-lunchtime Zootopia, giving the great city life and setting it to it's own personal rhythm, as it and every other major city does when setting itself up for a brand new day.  
Officer Nicholas P. Wilde was one of the city's slow risers, something which was more than often reflected by his devil-may-care-attitude. In his past life as hustler, slow mornings had pretty much been his only mornings. He hadn't expected any major change in that even after becoming a cop, or when he became the partner of the one little bunny that changed his life.

"You know carrots," the fox said softly, flashing his usual coy grin at said partner's direction, "its days like this like that you have to take things slow and appreciate the beauty of everything around us."

"Nick, with all respect, we might enjoy this day later on. But for now if I may ask you kindly, would you please…STOP SMASHING TROUGH THESE DAMN FRUIT COURTS!" Judy yelled at the top of her lungs, just as their police car went trough yet another fruit court.

As big colorful bunches of fruits flew all over their car, some of them rolling in through the open window on Nick's side, the fox left hand shot up from the wheel and grabbed a peach in mid-flight.  
Judy meanwhile course had to look into the side view mirror, as she saw the ever shrinking image of an angry boar yelling and shaking his fist in their general direction. Judy couldn't even yell her usual 'sorry' through the window which she had said for probably a hundred times in only the last twenty minutes. Instead, she glared at Nick who took a bite out of the peach and then cringed, throwing the reddish fruit out the window.

"Carrots, remind me later to report that boar for selling rotten fruit. Seriously, I'm sure it's some kind of health-code violation." The fox replied, spitting aside as Judy groaned and face palmed in the process. Needless to say, she was an early and quick riser, who just as quickly had regretted letting Nick drive the car today.

The reason for this high speed fruit market-genocide was because the two were in hot pursuit of a van that had been seen leaving a bank robbery which had occurred a few blocks away from their patrolling route.  
Apparently a few masked mammals had figured this was the perfect day to dress up in ski masks and shoot up the Central Zootopia Bank before making it off with at least nine large bags of cash and valuables, blowing a poor banker away in the process…!  
Being the closest car nearby, they quickly responded, and it was because Nick knew some "shortcuts", they had now run over at least nine fruit courts.

"Ten…." Judy said to herself as she heard a gorilla yell something angry in spanish after them. But despite their "hit-and-run-fruit-fun" as Nick called it, of which Bogo would clearly chew 'em out for, Judy had to admit that Nicks little shortcut did shave off at least forty-five minutes of pursuit.

As their car rounded a corner, they finally managed to catch up with the dark blue van that was speeding like the Devil and his entire demon-hoard was after it, except in this case, El Diablo was replaced with a very angry bunny cop, and instead a demon-hoard, she had her sly vulpine partner.

Inside the van were least five figures with two in the front and three in the back. The driver was a gray wolf wearing a dark blue jacket and a ski mask that covered his muzzle. Adjusting the rearview mirror, he noticed the police car that was on their trail, covered from hood to roof in fruit salad and with screaming sirens. The wolf stared in astounded awe at the unusual sight.  
The figure next to him was a golden jackal, wearing a messed up, unbuttoned suit with an undone tie, covered in blood splatters. Having taken off his red ski mask, the jackal was currently busy with a razor, dividing some white and purple powder into two thin lines on the dashboard of the van.  
It was a mixture of cocaine and night-howler extract, which together formed a drug which the ZPD and media had dubbed Scream. It had been reported to really screw with an animal's brain, giving them a deluded sense of invincibility and a tendency to scream on the top of their lungs, thus the name.  
Leaning forward and snorting the two lines in a zig-zag-like motion, the jackal gave off a pleased moan, flashing his sharp, gold-filled fangs in an ecstatic smile. He began to wipe his nose, as he heard the police sirens in the back. Flashing a manic grin at the driver, the jackal took up his shotgun from his side, along with couple of red shells.

"Oi! Oi! Jackie, fuck ya doing mate!?" The driver yelled at the jackal, who was busy with loading and cocking his weapon.

"Hehehe…This is gonna be awesome…" Jackie said before rolling down the window and sticking out his head. He looked backwards, wind rushing past him, and laughed like a crazy person. "Whoa, is the drugs really this good, or are we really being chased by a fruit salad on wheels?!"

"Are ya fuckin' nuts?! Get back inside the van and put your mask on!" The driver yelled, looking positively freaked out. But Jackie wasn't paying him any attention whatsoever.

"I AM GAME COPPERS! AHAHAH! IT'S WAR! IT'S FUCKING WAR!" The jackal yelled, as he began to climb further out of the window. "Today's forecast is heavy fucking hail!" He screamed and then began to fire the shotgun at the police-car.

Anyone with some working intelligence would have understood that firing a shotgun from a speeding vehicle from a distance won't do much damage to the car chasing after you. So was the case with Nick's and Judy's car, as hot pellets flickered off the hood, with a few managing to blast off a side mirror of the car. Nick was driving from side to side to dodge some of the incoming traffic in their direction.

"What is it with criminals always yelling lame one-liners?!" Judy asked as she removed the strap over the service-pistol in her belt. She picked it up, locating the safety cylinder and pulling it down with a click.  
She aimed at the van through the window, trying to get a clear shot on the jackal, which was a big challenge in itself.

Now, for those who doesn't know, ordinary police officers in Zootopia aren't usually issued lethal firearms. What they do get issued with are a wide assortment of non-lethal weaponry, such as dart-guns with highly potent tranquilizers, rifles that fired rubber-bullets and tear-gas filled pellets, beanbag launchers and stun-guns of varied caliber. Judy carried a X-21 Paw-Printer, which outwardly resembles a smaller Mauser C96. Instead of ordinary bullets it fired rounds of artillery-taser pads which could generate nearly fifty-thousan volts, pierce glass and upon impact form into a shape which resembled a paw-print, therefore it's name.

"Well, I think it's because they've either watched too many heist-flicks, or they're in the mood of going out in a blaze of glory." Nick replied, as he spinned the wheel dodging an oncoming jeep. "Or maybe it's because they feel an inner fear, and it's their way of compensating."

Judy turned her head and briefly stared at her partner in disbelief.

"Inner fear?! This is ain't Dr Phil Nick!" She yelled before returning to aim at the jackal. She attempted a shot and squeezed the trigger. The shot managed to hit the van's right brake light, making it shatter and spit out sparks down on the road.

Suddenly their radio clicked several times, as they heard chief Bogo's voice on the other end.

"Hopps! Wilde! What's the situation?! I'm sending additional units in your direction!" The buffalo's voice came out. Nick grabbed the radio and responded.

"Hiya chiefy, me and Carrots are doing perfectly fine. Just having a lovely morning drive, sun in our hair and she's all hopping mad here because of some Sunday driver."

The jackal fired several more shots, and as he ran out of bullets, he began to slap the side of the van.  
On cue, the backdoors flung open, and both the officers went cold, with Judy's ears dropping and Nick gritting his teeth. The two of them were now staring at a barrel of what looked like a gatling gun manned by a medium sized grizzly bear, with two assault rifles in the hands of a panther and zebra on it's sides.  
The barrels of the gatling gun started to spin, while the other two shooters took aim.

"Ummm… Chief… We'll have to get back to you. Me and Hopps are about to have a smaaaalll problem…!" Nick said, as Judy quickly pulled him down as the gatling gun and assault started firing.

Both officers yelled at the top of their lungs, as bullets flew over their heads and was pretty much turning the car into Swiss cheese, blasting the sirens to pieces, shattering the glass in front and back with the remaining side mirror. In the mid of panic, Nick turned the car, making it spin out of control and crash into a nearby flower shop.  
The grizzly gave a yell of victory while the other two were busy reloading as Jackie the golden jackal spun his emptied shotgun around his fingers like a western-revolver, howling in drug-induced triumph.  
Peeking out from behind their cover both Judy and Nick looked at each other with wide eyes. Besides fruit and bullets, their car was now covered and filled with the remnants of potted plants and neatly arranged flower-bouqets. Nick quickly grabbed the wheel and floored the car in reverse to spin it around and continue the pursuit.

"A gatling gun?! A gatling gun in the back of a van?! Who even does that?!" Nick yelled, as they were catching up. "Seriously, where are we?! In a Hambo movie?!"

"Nick, less complaining and more STEPPING ON IT!" Judy said, her eyes narrowing, as it was clear the bunny wasn't gonna be fooling around.

Then, hearing fresh police-sirens, the two looked back to see more police cars coming around a corner and catching up to them. Nick smiled at this.

"Well look, the cavalry has arrived." He commented, as one of the cars managed to catch up to them with officers Jane Spautley, a cheetah, and Eric McHorn, a rhino, in it.

"Hey Wilde, hell happened to your car? I thought you were a good driver!" The cheetah joked through the radio, as McHorn laughed in the background.

"Well, usually that doesn't involve gatling guns!" Nick shouted back, making the cheetah and rhino look at each other.

"Gatling gun?! Who uses a gatling gun!? Is this Neighminator 2 or something!?" McHorn yelled, causing Nick to snicker.

"I dunno, seems more like something from Hambo if you ask me!" The fox yelled back, as Judy rolled her eyes.

"Nick, this isn't the time to discuss movies!" Judy yelled, as she began leaning out the window again.

"Sorry dudes, seems we'll have to save this little chat for later!" Nick yelled as the car began speeding closer to their target.

Meanwhile ahead in the van, Jackie was having another big sniff of Scream as he saw the approaching cop-car in the mirror again. Smirking, he then knocked the back wall of the van.

"Oi boys! Prepare! They want to go another round!" He yelled, but then felt the driver pulling at his sleeve. "What?! What the fuck is it?!"

Seeing the panicked-looking driver pointing, he turned his head to see a police blockade with blinking lights in a crossing right ahead of them, waiting and cutting of any means of escape. Jackie cursed up a storm, hurriedly pushing in new ammo in his shotgun.

"Full speed! We'll ram trough those sons of bitches!" He yelled, and prepared for the impact properly by putting on his seatbelt.

At the same time in the back, the gatling gun was reeving up it's barrels, as Nick's car got closer for a good shot.

"Carrots, you better make that shot count, 'cause if you miss I'd say we'll have enough lead to make monuments on our graves!" Nick called out, while Judy was busy concentrating.

Licking her lips, Judy closed one eye as she kept looking at the opening behind the gatling gun, where she could the heads of both the driver and the jackal. Losing the glass of the front-window had actually been blessing wrapped in bullet-storm, for it provided her with much better means of aiming.  
Having gone over this back at the academy and practically memorized the thing like a ol'melody, she took a deep breath, relaxed herself a little bit to control her heartbeat, her muscles tensing as her index finger began to carefully squeeze the trigger.  
The shot rang out and rocketed out from the gun, away from the mangled police-car, over the space between it and the van, into the van, over the gatling gun and straight onto the neck of unsuspecting driver.  
The wolf gave of a big, involuntary spasm as fifty-thousand volts coursed through his body, paralyzing his muscles and making him reel over the wheel.  
As that happened, the van began to spin out of the control, causing the grizzly bear to fall to the side and slam his entire body weight onto the zebra, who in turn fired his rifle into the ceiling as the panther fell forward, making him drop his rifle and making it fly out of the open doors in the back. As the van spun, with the jackal tried to desperately reach to the side and grab a hold of the wheel. But this proved futile as the van slammed into a lamp post.

At the same time, Nick and Judy's car pulled over. Both the fox and the rabbit jumped out of the car with their guns out and pointing at the van, as surrounding people began to gather and stare at the spectacle.

The panther and the zebra dropped out of the van with their hands behind their heads. The grizzly bear wasn't conscious, sporting a nasty cut on the side of it's head, and the wolf weren't gonna move anytime soon, still twitching and with his face buried in the released airbag.  
But the jackal, who had speedily removed the seatbelt and jumped out of the car, made a run towards a mother sheep and her child who stood nearby. Grabbing the little lamb, he pressed the shotgun barrel to the little boy's head and snarled.

"Oi! Step away coppers or I'll blow this lamb chop's head clean off!" He yelled, bearing his teeth as the kid began to shake. His mother stood nearby, gasping and reaching for her child with tears in her eyes, but being forced to remain at a distance as the jackal waved the shotgun around.

"Let go of the kid punk! Now!" Nick yelled, keeping the jackal in his cross-airs with his own gun, which was a bigger version of Judy's.

"Like hell I will, I call the shots here you donut-munching hacks! Unless you want the brat's future to end right here right now, you drop the fucking guns!" Looking around in all directions with blood-shot eyes, Jackie's gaze eventually settled on Judy. "… I'm up for a trade though! You get the kid, and the bunny gets over here instead!" He called out. Judy blinked, then removed the clip from her pistol and tossed them to different sides.

"Alright, I'm coming over. Just stay cool and don't hurt the child." She said, approaching the jackal and the lamb slowly with her hands raised. Nick eyes bulged at this.

"Carrots, are you nuts?! He's gonna use you as a hostage to weasel himself out of there!" He called out in fear and anger. "Get back here dammit!"

"Nick, it's alright just trust me on this," she said without looking back.

As Judy got close enough, she waited for the jackal to release the child. Once he did that, his hand shot out to make a grab for her arm, and that's when she kicked off the ground and kicked him square in the jaw with her knee, making him lose his balance and fall down. Growling, the jackal rolled around and sat up to take an aim at Judy and was about to fire, only to be shot in the shoulder by Nick.  
Dropping his shotgun, the criminal fell down and made a gurgling sound as electricity coursed through him, a black little paw print visible on the shoulder of his blood-stained costumed. Spautley and McHorn, who had already cuffed the other criminals, rushed over to grab him, while the lambs mother rushed over and picked up her son, looking very relieved and holding him tightly.

Judy exhaled softly, as she turned around and met with Nick's stern look.  
"What?" She asked calmly, giving a friendly smile to her partner who was tapping his foot, almost like a disapproving parent.

"That was the most insane thing you've ever done! Seriously, what if your plan didn't work?" He asked, throwing his hands into the air.

"Hey, you're the one who usually comes up with insane plans on the fly, I thought it was time I tried something." The bunny replied, as Nick groaned.

"This isn't a joke you know…" He said, rubbing his temple and looking at her with concern, which soon smoothed out into a little smile. "If you get hurt, you know I'll have nobody to tease…"  
Judy gave off a little laugh, and then stretched out her fist toward her partner, who playfully responded with a light fist bump.

"Well, I'll admit that plan was quite insane and it did work." Nick mumbled, watching the other officers drag away the robbers "So, think Bogo will give us a medal for this?"

"Hardly, you two will be lucky if he doesn't kill you for all the damage". Spautley said, pushing the the zebra and panther into the car.

"Specially for trashing a police car like that." Added McHorn, as both Nick and Judy looked at their wrecked patrol car, which now in all it's fruit-covered, bullet-ridden and flower-filled glory looked some nightmarish parade-float.

"Maybe he won't notice?" Judy asked innocently, just as the car's left door fell off along with it's bumper, which made the bunny's ears drop in response.

Giving a sad little sigh, Judy then felt someone pulling at her sleeve. Turning her head, she saw the little lamb giving her a sweet smile with his mother standing behind him.

"T-Thank you for saving my little boy, officer." The adult sheep said softly, as Judy couldn't help but to smile back, then let out a gasp of surprise when she got hugged by child.

Nick smirked at this and quickly fished out his phone and took a picture. Looking at the image, Nick then closed his eyes and exhaled softly.  
It was strange, but days like this was when he loved being a cop the most. Slow days were all fine and dandy, but on the days when he and his partner could actually make a big difference, was when the fox truly felt what a different person he had become since quitting with small-time hustling.  
Then, feeling someone poke at his side, the fox opened his eyed and saw Judy smiling at him.  
Nick would have said it was just outright "cute", but using that word in her presence would have probably earned him a merciless kick from her foot.

"Hey, if you're done day dreaming. We need to head back to the station and do a full report, plus you'll be buying me coffee~" She said, making her way towards the wrecked police car before Nick could even utter a word.

Standing there awestruck, the fox then sighed hiding his phone away as he followed after her.

"I swear that bunny must have hidden powers that make it impossible to say "no" to her." He muttered under his breath.

Just as the police were busy making sure nobody could approach the crime scene, a single figure stood among the crowd, carefully taking a sip of her paper cup of coffee. Studying the entire scene, with her eyes delaying a bit on the the sheep mother and her son, a faint smirk spread across her muzzle. She then pulled out her phone and began dialing a number. Placing the phone to her ear, she spoke into it as someone picked up on the other end.

"Да, это я (Yes, it's me). I wish to ask you for a small favor, I need to find out some info on one individual. Species of a golden Jackal, around 30 years of age. Yes, part of a bank robbery that just happened…Mmm… I see… And his phone number? Heh, I see…Спасибо, это очень мне поможет...(Thank you, this will help me a lot)" Having gotten the information she needed, she pocketed her phone and vanished among the crowd, a faint flicker of her ocelot tail.


	3. Chapter 3: The Hunt begins

Chapter 3: The Hunt Begins

Returning to the precinct proved to be difficult for Nick and Judy as their busted up squad-car gave up somewhere near Striped Square. The engine coughed and wheezed before finally emitting a loud bang and expiring, with the tail-pipe letting loose a big, black cloud of smoke.  
After making a wise-crack involving released gas (Judy face palming in response) Nick immediately called an old friend of his with a towing-truck. The owner of the truck, a beaver with cap that seemed to have been chewed on, stared and blinked at them as Nick asked him to tow it to the station, later wondering aloud if a car-graveyard wasn't more appropriate.  
Sitting in the twisted and shot up heap as it got pulled by the tow-truck, the rabbit and the fox stepped out as it got placed in the ZPD parking house. Thanking the beaver and heading for the lobby, a wave of foreboding dread began to wash over Judy.

"Sweet cheese and crackers", she mumbled as she nervously ran her paws over her ears. "Bogo will have our heads mounted on the walls of his office for this…!"  
The bunny felt her partner's palm on her shoulder. Looking back, she saw his reassuring smile.

"C'mon Carrots, why don't you chill? I bet if you crank up that sweet and earthy bunny-charm of yours, not even old iron-hide will have the heart to be cruel to ya." Nick said, giving Judy a sly wink.  
Judy glanced at the fox with an annoyed look as they got closer to the main-entrance.  
"If you're asking me to act all cutesy to get out of trouble, you're barking up the wrong tree bud," Judy said as she pushed the door to the lobby inward.

As they entered the precinct, the surprised officers were greeted with applause from their colleges, which made Nick grin as he waved his hands in the air as if he had just won a Gold medal in the Olympics; Judy just rolled her eyes at how much her partner was hamming it.  
They were being greeted, both teasingly and congratulatory (officer Wolford for instance, who was holding a couple of oranges and light-haertedly asked them if they would like some more C-vitamin), as they approached the main-desk where they were met with Benjamin Clawhauser's wide smile, which parted and closed with a high frequency as the fat cheetah was busy scarfing down a fresh donut.

"And here they are! Our two hero-officers, who stopped the dangerous bandits and even saved a little child!" He exclaimed merrily and squished his plump cheeks together.

"Oh come on Clawhauser, we were just doing our job. It's nothing to be amazed by." Judy muttered, doing her best to sound modest. On the inside she was proud, but in all honesty, it felt a little early to feel celebratory when she considered the poor shot banker, who if not dead by now was probably still fighting for his life in some emergency room.

"Speaking of which," Nick spoke up, "Does chief buffalo-head know we're here yet or-"

"HOPPS! WILDE!" Bogo's voice thundered from the second floor, interrupting Nick and making him and Judy stiffen. They both looked up and spotted the police-chief, staring down at them with wide, furious eyes and his flat teeth clenched so tightly that you'd think they would pop out like overheated popcorn at any given second. "MY OFFICE! NOW!" He yelled at the top of his lungs and then went back to his office, slamming the door shut.

The precinct had gone quiet, aside from a few whispers among the officers. Even some of the booked in perps seemed to be glad that their names weren't Wilde and Hopps right now.  
Clawhauser gulped heavily.

"Ummm… It would seem he wants to see you both," he said. "Y-You two should head over, doesn't sound like he's in a good mood."

The two unlucky officers stared at each other in silence, Judy biting her lip and Nick rubbing the back of his head as they headed up the stairs to their chief's office.

"Still not up for using your bunny-charm, Carrots?"

"Even if I did, I don't think it would help at this point Nick."

"Figures… So… Made a will yet?." Nick asked, flashing a coy grin as Judy opened the door and both stepped inside.

The atmosphere inside Bogo's office was tense to say the least. In fact, it was so damn thick you could probably cut it with a knife and then serve it as the blue plate special. Eyeing the two officers as they sat down, the buffalo didn't say a word at first. He stood up and began to pace from one side of his office to the other, before stopping behind his desk, pulling out a box and taking up an i-pad. Dragging his finger across the screen, a videoclip began to play which showed footage of Nick and Judy's squad-car crashing trough several fruit courts. Bogo seemed to try and vaporize the two with his gaze.

"Now, care to explain your little demolition derby?" He finally asked, leaning across the desk and holding the i-pad in front of them.

While Judy was close to sweating bullets, Nick seemed to have composed himself enough to try and play it cool, leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms across his chest and resting his right leg over the other.

"Well, the criminals were getting away, so I decided to use a little shortcut to help us catch up with them. And for your information, sir, I'm willing to bet one or two of those fruit-sellers didn't even have a license to sell there." The fox stated calmly.

Bogo stared at the fox, and then coughed as he glanced down at the i-pad, which was now showing the car being fired at and spinning out of control before smashing into the flower shop. But before he could say anything, both Judy and Nick said in union: "Gatling gun".

"Gatling gun?" The buffalo repeated, a twitching motion appearing in the corner of his eye. Dropping the pad on the desk, the buffalo threw his arms out and yelled angrily. "GATLING GUN?! Who uses a gatling gun in van?!"

"… I dunno," Nick said and shrugged. "Texans?"

Bogo slammed his fists against the desk, leaning closer and almost beginning to growl at the two in a threatening manner. Judy was close to wishing she could fall trough the floor, but Nick impressively kept his cool.

"Now listen here you two. You are both lucky that the leader behind this heist was a scumbag that we've been trying to nail for a really long time. If it wasn't for that, plus the fact that you saved that kid's life, I would have you thrown out of here with your heads first! Considering how much you two have already cost this city with your carelessness, any sane chief would have already fired you."

"With all due respect sir," Judy began in a careful tone, "those robbers had stolen about six million dollars in cash. We may have wrecked a couple things these last months, but hardly anything that would go for that amount. And we've always caught the bad guys in those situations…"

Bogo's stern eyes rested on Judy for a moment, Nick looking back and forth with certain fascination, his cocky expression fading. Finally, the buffalo exhaled.

"All I am telling you, is to stay out of this kind of trouble for while, for as long as you can." He said and leaned back in his chair, one hoof folded over the other. "Ever since the new mayor was elected, he's been on me continuously in regards to you. You might be fine cops, but you still cause the city-council a lot of headaches, and I assume you already know what the media is saying about you two."

Judy and Nick shared a look which said the exact same thing: "Everything between the earth and the sky." Pretty much nothing in regards to them hadn't been covered or stated since that first, disastrous press-conference. While most outlets still hailed them as the heroes who brought those kidnapped and brainwashed predators home to their families and brought a massive conspiracy to light, a sizable portion of people had found it appropriate to criticize and deride them, from everything between Judy's apparent speciest opinions to Nick being included in the police-force despite being a confirmed ex-con artist. While those were a given, there were also the completely fictional statements and accusations that raged online, some of them claiming that they were in fact agents of an even bigger conspiracy, or even entire websites dedicated to the rumor that they were lovers.  
Nick had in his curiosity checked one of these websites out, only to regret it almost immediately, as they were full of vile, photoshopped pictures that depicted the two engaged in activities that were nearly impossible to un-see.  
Nick glanced at Judy and wondered if she had seen one of those websites. He didn't really like thinking about that, kind of like how an older brother doesn't like imagining what kind of adult entertainment his teenaged little sister might be viewing when nobody else is around.

"It may have been a while since the Night-Howler incident, but the citizens are still nervous about those who governs this city, especially considering the acts of the two previous mayors." Bogo noted. "They're looking into everybody's closets, searching every inch for skeletons. That's why we, the city's protectors, must keep our noses clean. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir." Judy replied and nodded.

"Clear as crystal, chief." Nick added and gave a little salute.

"Good." Bogo said, standing up and turning to look out through the window which was behind him. "Now, I want a full report about this and it better be fully detailed. Now, out of my office before I hear about some other mayhem you've caused."

As both Judy and Nick went towards the door, Judy was suddenly stopped by the chief calling her name. Looking back, she saw Bogo looking over his shoulder and giving her something that seemed to be a smile or least an attempt at it.

"The banker is gonna make it. And good job at saving that kid. It was reckless, but very top-notch police-work." He said.

"T-Thank you sir, I try my best…Sir." She said, smiling back and giving him a salute. Bogo turned to stare out of the window again as she left.

Closing the door behind her, the bunny exhaled and turned to see Nick leaning against the wall next to her.

"Teachers pet as always I see" He said with a smirk, crouching before Judy and poking her nose.

"H-Hey! Least I'm trying to be more professional about it." She said, furrowing her eyebrows at Nick while wiggling her nose from the poke. "Besides, I should be applauding you for keeping your cool."

Nick then stood up, followed by an idle shrug the fox turned around and then began going down the stairs with Judy following really quickly after him.

"It just comes with the territory Carrots. I've dealt with guys like Bogo before. It's all about not letting them sense your fear." The fox replied casually, then looked around as he whispered to Judy. "And between you and me, I was close to fainting myself."

Blinking several times, Judy let out a faint giggle which then grew into a much softer laugh.  
Looking at the laughing bunny, Nick felt a familiar warmth rush through him, which seemed to transpire whenever he saw this girl smile or laugh… And yet all this could have been gone if Judy's plan had failed today.  
In fact, as that had happened, Nick had felt a frightful void fill up his heart, while his mind had pictured every potential, horrible outcome like a collage of his deepest fears.  
But all of those had turned out to be "what ifs", and this was the present. Now, his partner was alive and well, the two sharing a very good laugh and as things were alright. Then, an idea popped into Nick's head, and he stuck his paw inside his uniform.

"Heeeeey Carrots, how about you do the paperwork." He started, instantly getting a glare from Judy, which was instantly smoothed into a surprised look as Nick had taken out and presented her with a single red rose, which he had taken up from within their mangled car and saved on his person. "… While I'll do you a favor and take ya out for lunch, since you did a heroic deed today."

Accepting the rose and rubbing her chin in thought, Judy then tapped her foot a little and smiled as she extended her free hand to Nick.  
Seeing this as her way of saying 'yes', the fox answered her smile with his own and shook her little paw.

"But it better not be like that place in the Tropic zone." She said, pulling her hand back as Nick raised an eyebrow.

"And what pray tell was wrong with that little Chinese restaurant, hmmm?" He asked, as they approached Clawhausers desk, the cheetah presenting them with the necessary paperwork. "They served us some really good soup."

"Nick, that place was a front for a meth-lab…" Judy said as she placed the rose on the desk and started signing some documents for a replacement squad car. "Half the customers were on drugs!"

"Yes, but the soup was still good." Nick said innocently, which earning him another groan from the rabbit. Patting her on the back, the fox then tickled under her chin with his fluffy tail, surprising her and making her nearly drop her pen. "Oh relax Carrots, I know of a nice little café in Sahara Square that serves some really good meals. You'll love it~"

"Alright, alright, I'll buy it." Judy said and grabbed the keys for their new car as Clawhauser handed them to her. She then tossed them to Nick, who by reflex catches them in his paw. "But if the food is crap, you'll be filling up that report yourself." The bunny took up the rose again, sniffing it and smiling peacefully. "I'm just gonna put this in some water. You bring the car around in the meantime. Drive carefully."

Nick watched her go with a faint smile, and as he turned, he saw Clawhauser looking at him with sly sort of look. For some reason, it made him feel embarrassed.

"… What?" He wondered.

"Nothing." The cheetah mumbled and turned to file more paperwork, a knowing smile still present on his face.

As they left the garage in their new car, a black mustang parked on the other side of the street was lying in wait for them. When the police car was at a good distance, it drove off and began tailing them.  
The drive was quite lengthy, but police-car eventually pulled over by a café called "The Arabian Night". As Nick stepped out, he went around to the passenger-seat and opened the door for Judy like a classic gentleman, the rabbit giving the fox an amused look.  
The mustang pulled over to the opposite side of the street, it's window rolling down a bit. Sitting inside was Sally, as she lowered her black shades and eyed the café. Giving a faint smirk, she then pulled out her cellphone and began writing a text message.  
When that was done and the message had been sent, the ocelot stepped out of the car, grabbed a guitar case from the trunk and started to walk towards a tall apartment building.  
Once inside it, she hurried towards the elevator and pushed the button. The doors soon opened and she stepped in when suddenly a voice called out for her.

"Oh dear, please hold that door." An elderly voice said, as Sally saw an elderly female aardvark approaching the elevator. Stretching out a paw and keeping the elevator-door from closing, the aardvark walked and gave a grateful smile. "Oh thank you dear, I'm sorry for being a nuisance."

"Oh, it's not a problem". The ocelot replied and stepped aside to give the old woman more room and allowing for her to press the needed floor button.

"Mmmm…Which floor for you, dear?" The old woman asked, looking at her and adjusting her glasses.

"Top floor, please." The Ocelot replied, giving her a small smile. The aardvark nodded as she pressed two buttons.

As the doors closed and the elevator began to go up, the Ocelot hummed and looked at her wrist watch, while the old lady would look at her in a curious fashion, her eyes going from the guitar case and up to her suit, which had a greyish blue color with matching pants, and was worn over a dark-grey shirt with a black collar that was unbuttoned, which together with a black tie that was white on top made it look like she was wearing a priest-collar. On the front of her suit were also a silver pendant in the shape of a eight-pointed star with a golden chain attached which lead into the suit's interior.  
Looking back, the Ocelot tilted her head a little, wondering why the old woman was staring at her.

"Is something the matter?" The ocelot asked, making the aardvark look away.

"O-Oh, nothing dear. J-Just not every day you see a young girl like yourself wearing a suit… And such a fine one at that. Mmm… A-are you one of those alternative performers or something?" She asked, pointing at the guitar case. "I mean… Mm… I'm not really up to speed with modern music and stuff… Mmm… Sorry, didn't mean to offend you."

The ocelot looked down at the guitar-case with a confused look and then let out a light laughter. She shook her head gently and waved her hand at the old woman.

"None taken, please don't worry. I prefer classic rock." The ocelot replied, getting a sweet smile from the elderly.

"You got a gig in town?" She asked.

The ocelot glanced to her side and shrugged.  
"You could say that…"

As the elevator door beeped, the old woman began to step outside as she then turned to the Ocelot and waved to her in a friendly manner.

"So long dear, and do keep yourself safe. It's quite rare to meet such well-mannered young people these days."

"Same for you, бабушка (grandmother). Be safe yourself and don't overstrain your heart." The ocelot replied as the doors, but noticed a very surprised looked from the old woman.

Once the elevator arrived to the top floor, the Ocelot made her way towards the door which lead to the rooftop. Carefully picking the lock with her claw, she then stepped up a couple of stairs and made it out into the open, the hot sun and light breeze speaking of pitch-perfect summer day. Approaching the needed spot, she removed the coat of her suit, folding it and placing it on the ground. After loosening her tie, she laid down the guitar case and opened it.  
Inside it was the parts of a medium sized VSS Vintorez automatic sniper rifle. Carefully gliding her paws across them, she then started assembling her little toy. Placing the clip into the rifle, she then pulled out her phone and a pair of earphones, slipping them on and picking a random song from her collection.  
She then waited, her tail wagging to the melodic rhythm of Rolling Stags "Gimme Shelter". She adjusted the scope, getting a clear view of her targets as they sat around a table near the window of the cafe, chatting and enjoying their lunch without a care in the world. The ocelot focused the little cross inside the scope on the rabbit, who looked like she was telling the fox something fun, and for the hired gun was set to the lyrics sung by Mick Jaguar:

 _"Oh a storm is threatening,  
my very life today.  
I don't get some shelter,  
oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away.  
War children, it's just a shot away.  
It's just a shot away."_

It wouldn't take long before the pawns made their move.

-

Now, some of you are probably wondering where that text-message went. Going back a couple of minutes before the ocelot had sent it to a run-down apartment somewhere in Sahara Square, we would find the answer in the form of Jamie Leerdon, Jackie the golden jackal's younger brother.

Jamie was the second in command of one of the Sahara Square gangs, this one "originally" named the Oasis Jackals, mainly because their HQ were located in the old and abandoned Oasis Water park. Out of the two brothers, Jamie was an even bigger wild card, with the therm maniac feeling a lot more appropriate when describing him. Nicknamed Jamie Van Gogh, rumors circled among the rivaling gangs and spoke of how he enjoyed cutting off the ears of his opponents and would then wear them around his neck as a twisted necklace, believing it to be good voodoo. However, he really loved and looked up to his older brother, with the ambition to make him proud in any way he could.

The golden jackal was roughly 29 years old, medium built, with various printed tattoos covering the fur of his body, wore several earrings. and like his brother he had plated fangs, which in his case were silver instead of gold. Also unlike his brother, he wasn't scream-addict. Jackie had in fact pushed him not to touch the stuff, knowing that Jamie were unpredictable enough as he was.  
At that moment, Jamie was sitting leaned back on an old beaten up couch, swallowing big gulps of malt-whisky while watching the news on a small television. The rest of the gang was sitting around a table in the kitchen, where they had recently been playing a game of poker, which they had interrupted as soon as the news of Jackie's arrest had reached them.  
News anchors Peter Moosebridge and Fabianne Growley (an attractive snow leopard that Jamie had a lustful liking to) were reporting the failed bank robbery and his brother's capture. Gritting his teeth in anger as he saw footage of Jackie being kicked by the bunny-cop being played , the jackal threw his half-finished bottle at the television screen and shattered it, making it spew out a storm of white sparks. Jumping off the couch, he looked at the rest of the gang, his mad eyes bloodshot and his hands clenching and unclenching at a rapid frequency.

"Who the hell do those cops think they are?!" He yelled, and then started to pace around. "They think they can arrest my bro?! The fuck they do! I'm gonna burn this whole damn city down! I'm gonna eviscerate every fucking cop in this fucking city! I'm gonna drink their blood!"

The rest of the gang looked at each other; all wondering who should speak up first. When Jamie was getting like this and his brother wasn't around to calm him down, it usually meant two things: One, uttering a single word could mean a trip to the emergency room, and two, he was crazy enough to try and follow up with his plan, and if he tried, it would mean that soon enough they would have the entire SWAT-team, or worse, the National Guard banging on their door!  
Someone had to bite the bullet in order to stop that from happening, and as by tradition, it was always the new guy who had to do it. In this case it was a young gazelle, who coughed a few times to get a hold of Jamie's attention.

"Ummm… Boss… Maybe you should calm down and ya know… Just chill a bit, because… Mmm…"

But before he could finish his train of thought, he was interrupted. Not wasting time, Jamie ran over the couch, jumped onto the small table in the kitchen, pulled out a gun from his back-pocket and then pressed it against the poor gazelle's nose, who's face was now sweating more sweat than a rainforest had rain in it.

"Don't you dare giving me advice you sniveling shit-stain! You see this gun?! This gun resembles my fucking dick!" He yelled with spit landing on the poor kid's face who was visibly shaking now. "And unless you start saying something helpful in the next few seconds, I'm gonna bang it against your head and make you swallow it's load!"

The gazelle trembled, seeming too frightened to say anything.  
Fortunately enough for him, the sound of a phone vibrating and a signal playing "It's a small world after all" saved his skin, as Jamie pushed the kid back in the chair he had been sitting as he reached into his pocket and produced his cellphone.  
Raising his eyebrow, the jackal saw that it was a text message from an unknown number, with the text reading:

"If you want those who arrested your brother. They are currently dining in "Arabians Nights" on the Corner of Camel Toe and left. If you hurry, you can still catch them ;3" Attached to the text was a file which Jamie opened. It was a photo which depicted both that insufferable bunny-cop and her equally insufferable fox-partner, walking into said cafe with their backs against whoever had taken it.

Blinking several times, Jamie then pocketed the phone as he jumped off the table and cocked his pistol. He glared at the gang members who all looked eagerly curios as to why their boss had suddenly stopped from murdering the young gazelle.

"Okay you motherfuckers, get you asses to the jeep. It seems we're going out hunting!" He said and grinned evilly.

The gang speedily gathered their weapons and rushed outside, where a jeep with a false plate was waiting for them underneath an old, dis-repaired water slide.  
Seven members went in the back, one took his place behind the wheel and Jamie himself sat beside the driver, tapping his foot impatiently and smiling from ear to ear. The car quickly took off trough the remains of the park and out into the sandy dunes surrounding it; once it got to the main highway it began speeding towards the ill-fated cafe.

At the same time, Nick was taking a sip of his steaming cup of java, while Judy was eating a delightful cucumber-raita with an intrigued facial expression; despite being named Arabian Nights, the cafe served mainly Indian food, which she was grateful for as it offered her plenty of vegetarian alternatives.  
Nick lowered his cup and looked at her with an amused look. One thing that he noticed about her when she ate was how her cheeks would puff, making it ridiculously unfair when it came to trying to ignore her inherent adorability.

"I told you they had good food." Nick said while munching on a fry from his own plate of spicy-fries with cheese and jalapeño-topping. With his mouth full he nodded in the general direction of the other customers, which were unusually few for this time of the day. "And look, not even a single junkie to be seen."

Judy held up her finger, chewing and swallowing her food properly before answering.

"Okay, I'll admit you picked a good one this time. And a good thing too, after this day it really hit the spot." She said and drank some of her own coffee. "But something keeps bugging me…"  
Nick raised an eyebrow.  
"The fact that I actually bought you lunch? Appearances can be deceiving: I can be a nice guy from time to time Carrots."

Judy waved away his comment with her paw.

"Not that. It's about the crooks we arrested today. I talked to Fangmeyer, and she said that most of them were small-timers. Besides the jackal, they were a bunch of hoodlums really."

"Yeah? So?"

"So, who gives a couple of street-thugs a gatling-gun?" Judy asked and threw her arms out. "Sounds more like something that rebels or a terrorist-group might get their hands on."

"Maybe." Nick noted. He didn't like to talk about work when he was eating, but he couldn't deny that she was on to something. "Bank-robbers these days aren't' as dramatic as in the days of Puppy Face Nelson. Most of them can steal twice the amount these guys were taking by just using a computer. One could of course assume that they were desperate or just plain crazy… That Jackie-guy certainly fit the bill."

"Appearances can be deceiving." Judy repeated before taking another spoon of her raita. Rather than eating it immediately, she paused and looked at it with a thoughtful look. "… I got a call from my parents the other day."  
Nick blinked at the sudden change of topic.

"Really? And what did they have to say?"

"They're gonna come and visit me next weekend." She said and put the spoon down on her plate. She crossed her hands and looked up at Nick. "They finally got some time off from the farm and also got uncle Oswald and aunt Hortencia to babysit. They've been dying to see where I live, where I work, everything for a long time."

"Gonna give them a tour of your apartment?" Nick asked and smirked. "The whole five centimeters of it?"

Judy's eyes narrowed as the fox gave off a little laugh.

"Hardy-har-har. But yes, that too. They've been curious to meet you too."

Nick stopped laughing and looked at Judy with wide eyes.

"Uh-oh, meeting a girl's parents?" He asked, starting to smile again. "My carefree bachelor-legs tells me to run far, far away…!"

"Ugh, be serious for a second." Judy said and face-palmed before looking up again. "No really, they would like to meet you. I mean I've mentioned you pretty much every time I've talked to them this year, so it's not that weird. You are my closest friend after all."

Nick crossed his arms and gave the bunny a more serious look, though with a playful little smirk still present in the corner of his mouth.

-"M-hm. Didn't you tell me once that they were kind of… Anxious, around my kind?"  
Being the chatty and open creature that she was, Nick had often been told about her parents, who lived out in the countrysides of the Bunny Burrows. Her father Stu was a successful carrot-farmer (the therm being deceptive, as the farm had a lot more than just carrots) and her mother was a house-wife who took care of the younger half of their impressively large quantity of offspring. Besides being told of how nice and wonderful and sometimes nagging they could be, Judy had told Nick that they weren't of most "used" persuasion to predators. Especially not foxes, as they apparently possessed several fox-repelling articles, including a pepper-spray called Fox-Away.

"I also told you that it was before I moved to Zootopia." Judy noted. "They've opened their eyes, they even have a fine business-relationship with a fox right now as a matter in fact."

"I dunno…" Nick said with an uncertain voice, remembering that it had been them who had pushed Judy to bring fox-repellent equipment with her when she moved to the city.

"Please." Judy was now looking down at her plate, absent-mindedly stirring it's contents with her spoon. "They may not be skeptical of foxes anymore, but they're still kind of mixed when it comes to my job and the city in general. Especially dad… I know they're just worried about me, but they still think I'm incapable of taking care of myself." Judy said, giving him an imploring look. "With you backing me up, I think they would feel a little more assured, and not rant about staying out of trouble all the time."

"You staying out of trouble?" Nick snorted. "That would be like telling pandas to stop eating bamboo!" Judy glared at him, and he rolled his eyes. "Oh alright, I'll come and meet them. It might be fun." He added and placed another fry in his mouth. "Heck, why don't we just tell them we're engaged? That ought to make them wake up."  
Judy's eyes grew big, and without a trace of warning she burst out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Nick looked at her in surprise, and a few of the other customers turned their heads to give her odd looks.

"No way!" She uttered, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. "Dad would have a stroke…!"

Nick's ears lowered, and he started to look down with a sort of beaten look.

"Heh… Well I am just a riot, ain't I?" He said, his voice strangely void. Judy stopped laughing, sensing the tone and looking at Nick with a curious look.

"What's the matter?"

"You didn't have to laugh that hard." Nick replied and avoided her gaze. "I wouldn't make a bad hubby you know."  
Judy blinked, and then gave off an uncertain smile.

"Oh Nick, I wasn't saying that." She said re-assuredly. "It's just that-"

-"What?" Nick asked with a sudden edge in his voice. "Is there something fundamentally un-marriable about me?"

Judy opened and closed her mouth, not really sure of what to say.

"Uh…"

While this interesting conversation was taking place, a jeep arrived outside the café.  
Seeing the parked police car, and also spotting the fox and the bunny talking through the window, Jamie grinned and prepared a silver-plated UZI as he told the others to get ready.

"I didn't mean anything bad." Judy tried to tell her partner. "I'm sure you'd make a good husband, but weren't you joking? Am I not supposed to laugh at a joke?"

"You never laugh at my jokes Judy." Nick replied and pointed accursedly at her. "But this was just hilarious. Can't you figure out why that rubs me the wrong way?"

Judy crossed her arms and fixed Nick with a hard look. She was starting to get angry now too.

"I could if I understood why you're getting so testy all of a sudden… Why don't you spell it out for me?"

Meeting her stare, Nick bit his lip. How was he gonna put this without making it sound weird or blown out of proportion? Remembering the press-conference, he let this temper cool down a little, licked his lips and started to talk with a calm, explanatory tone.

"Okay, lets imagine this scenario. What if we were-"

BANG

The gang-members had stepped out of their vehicle, weapons in plain sight and aiming at the fox and the bunny through the window.  
Jamie had grinned wider, raising his UZI and preparing to shoot.

However, instead one of the members heads suddenly exploded, with fragments of brain and blood splattering across the pavement as he collapsed on the ground.  
The other six were frozen with a mix of surprise and shock, before another one went down with the top of his scalp blown off.  
Some woman screamed nearby, and civilians were either running away or ducking behind something.  
Finally snapping out of their state of shock, Jamie looked around frantically, trying to see where the shots was coming from.

At the same time, Nick and Judy turned to look out the window, their expressions turning to shock as they saw two motionless bodies with most of their heads missing and five armed hostiles outside. They instantly flipped their table over to use for cover.

"FIND SOME FUCKING COVER YOU MORONS!" Jamie yelled as loud as he could, as he ran towards the jeep.

The remaining gang members followed his orders as best they could, two of them shooting wildly in a desperate attempt to see where the shooter was, but soon joining their fallen brothers. One managed to reach the jeep and got behind the driver's wheel, but after a single shot the interior of the car turned red with his mass of blood.  
Now it was just four left, with Jamie pressing himself against the side of the van, as he saw two guys hiding behind another car nearby, and the young gazelle actually hiding behind a bug-hotdog cart.  
Everything went quiet for moment, but as the one gazelle got up and tried to make a run for it, he dropped and yelled while holding his bleeding kneecap as another shot rang out and and finished him.  
Now, Jamie actually found himself being scared. For the first time since he was little, the jackal actually feared for his life, and he didn't know what to do. Because usually it was his brother who saved him. Jackie had always been the one with the brains, while Jamie was the brawn.

"BOSS! BOSS! WHAT DO WE DO?!" One of the gang members, a Doberman, yelled at him in order to get his attention as he peeked over the hood of the car, but was instantly silenced as a bullet bored itself into his eye.

Now, it was just the two of them left, and Jamie felt even more at loss. He couldn't think of anything, because he was an idiot. The remaining gangmember was clearly losing his cool as he tried busting through the window of the car, but was swiftly taken down as his body was peppered with more shots.  
Jamie was now alone. He was all alone with some sharpshooter. But, who was the sharpshooter?! Did the cops arrange for this ambush?! No…This wasn't their style at all. But who could be shooting then?!  
Then, Jamies phone buzzed, indicating a text message. He cursed under his breath and pulled out the phone, showing another text from the unknown number from before. As he opened the message his eyes went wide.

"Thank you for your help, щенок. Теперь прощай (pup. Now goodbye)" The text said, when suddenly Jamie felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, spreading trough all the way out the front. His body started feeling weightless and limp, while red mist was starting to cover his eyes.

After that everything went silent, as both Judy and Nick peeked out from behind the flipped table, seeing the street littered with bodies. They slowly came out the café as Judy beheld the senseless slaughter.  
Approaching one of the bodies, which with and extraordinary circumstance happened to be a golden jackal. She studied it carefully.

"Nick…Call the precinct, tell them to get over here. Bring the coroners and the forensics…" Judy whispered, trying to sound as calm as possible.

Nick nodded, pulled out his phone and started dialing the number. Meanwhile, Judy noticed a discarded phone next tot he body of the jackal. It was splattered with blood, and had a text message displayed on it, which made the bunny raise her eyebrow.

As this was happening, the ocelot had long left the rooftop and stepped out of the building through the fire-escape. Heading towards her rented car, she stopped and looked back as she pulled down her shades a little bit, looking in the direction of the crime-scene.

"And so it begins, зайчёнок (bunny)." She mumbled, as she then climbed into her car and drove off.


	4. Chapter 4: Crying badman

Chapter 4: Crying Badman

Police procedure isn't always the most fun thing, in fact one could say it's by far the most boring thing to do next to look at paint drying or grass growing. Filling up constant reports, making sure all the details had been written down properly and nothing was amiss, especially considering that one mess up could send the whole thing into being written all over again.  
This is something that Nick truly despised about his job, being very glad when Judy would take care of the reports for both of them. He would always make sure to repay his partner for her kindness in any way he could.  
So, now they were in their office, Judy rapidly typing their report on the whole bank robbery and chase, all the while Nick busied himself with checking messages on his phone.  
After the surprise-execution outside the cafe, Judy had apparently forgotten their little talk, which the fox was in part relieved over. Seeing her so readily do his paperwork as well as hers reminded him how sweet she really was, which made him feel bad for reacting so strongly. In hindsight he had realized that he may have overreacted, though he wasn't really sure why.  
Was it really the fact that Judy found the idea of marrying him humorous that made him feel strangely hollow? … No, that would be crazy. He had probably reacted the way he did because she might have found the idea of marrying a fox hilarious, not him specifically… Or at least that's what he figured.  
A knock then came on the door. Not waiting for a response, a figure opened the door, and peaking inside which was a large gorilla.

"Hey Hohenheim, sup?" Nick asked, flashing the large ape a friendly smile. The ape didn't return the smile as he stepped into the office.

"Don't act friendly, Wilde. You still owe me fifty bucks, don't think I've forgotten." He muttered, putting a few files on Judy's desk "Here are the files on those stiffs you asked for, Hopps."

"And here I thought only elephants had good memory… " Nick whispered, but then his ears perked "Stiffs? You mean the ones from outside the café?"

"Yeah, I wanted to do a quick check-up on those guys." Judy said as she began skimming over the files. "Hmmm… Interesting." "The golden jackal here was named Jamie Leerdon… And he was the younger brother to Jackie Leerdon, the leader at the bank robbery… Second in command of the Oasis Jackal gang after his brother… Sweet cheese crackers that's a lame name… Grew up in Sahara Square… Dropped out of school… Father unknown, mother a junkie… Let's see… List of assaults: robbery, four degrees of murder, statutory rape, having un-registered weapons… Man this guy is a handful… Or rather, was."

Nick and Hohenheim shared a look, until the ape shrugged and began to leave. But then Judy looked up at him.

"Hey, any report from the ballistics and the text messages?" She asked, making the ape turn.

"Yeah, Honey said she's finished and you can pay her a visit" He muttered, closing the door behind him while Nick turned around in his office-chair, hands crossed over his chest and with his eyebrows raised.

"Alright Carrots, humor me. Why are you wasting time with this?" Nick asked, as Judy tore her eyes away from the file.

"Ummm, wake up Nick, those guys came after us! Our photo and instructions of where we would be was in Jamie's phone. And then we saw the whole gang get executed… Most likely by the very person who tipped them off. If that doesn't answer your question, I don't know what does…" Judy said before going back to her reading.

"Maybe it was somebody who's toes we've stepped on who wanted to us dead, but suddenly lost his nerve and gunned down the backup?" He theorized.

"No… This was too good for something like that. Whoever did this had no hesitation, and every shot managed to hit it's target." She looked over the photos from the crime-scene. Each and everyone of the criminals were lying in pools of their own blood, most of them with big chunks of their heads missing. "We're dealing with a professional here, someone who just as easily could've killed us, but for some reason didn't… Question is why…"

Nick didn't respond. He simply stared at the bunny, nervously tapping his foot and unsure of what to say, for Judy had certainly said it.  
This situation was unnerving… Maybe even terrifying.  
Judy ran her eyes over the files a few more times before closing them, gathering them and getting out of her chair. Approaching the door, she looked back at Nick, who looked kind of reluctant.

"You're gonna go and see Honey, aren't ya?" He asked, and got a positive nod in response. "Well… Let's get it over with then. But I don't think being near that weirdo will help to calm my nerves."

"What do you have against Honey?" Judy asked while glancing at her partner as they left the office.

"Oh, I dunno, maybe because she's nuts and creep's me out?" Nick said as he rubbed his chin "Or maybe 'cause she sees conspiracies in everything?"

"Nick, c'mon she's a sweet girl and a great help." Judy said, looking at the fox "Sure she's a tad… Mmm… Quirky, but she is still very nice."

Nick sighed, as he shook his head and looked at Judy.  
He did have to admit that Honey Barker was a very kind and skilled forensic scientist… But that didn't change the fact that the badger was clearly several marbles away from being sane. However, what the fox disliked the most about her, was her unshakable belief and fascination with bizarre conspiracy-theories, never letting a chance of rambling about them escape her. For instance, she honestly believed that an organization completely composed of sheep was behind many major historical events, and aiming for world domination.

Stopping before the forensics door, Nick looked at Judy again, who just gave him a stern look that told him to stay nice. Knocking a few times, Judy waited for a response, and after some clattering the doors finally opened.

In the doorway, both officers saw a medium height honey badger, with messy white hair that stood up between her ears like a mohawk. Her body was a little pudgy but still feminine, she wore a pair of goggles on her forehead and her lab coat was unbuttoned and showcased t-shirt that read "Beware the Sheep-Conquerors!".  
Seeing the the two, the female badger gave them the widest grin possible, and then pulled Judy in for an overwhelming hug.

"JUDE THE DUDE! HAHAH! How's my fave police-bunny?" Honey asked, all the while Judy was being squeezed like a plushy.

Nick bit his lower lip, trying his best not to laugh at the hilarious scene. He quickly fished out his phone and took a photo, but did notice by Judy's deadly glare in his direction that if anyone besides him saw that photo, she would end him right on the spot.  
Plus, Nick was amazed how Judy allowed Honey to call her "Jude the Dude", making her the only one besides Judy's father who had the privilege. Last time Nick had tried to use that nickname he had gotten himself caught in the rabbit's famous chokehold and then getting forced to promise he'd never call her that again.  
Judy was struggling in Honey's hug, her face going into several different shades of blue and now starting to become purple. Deciding enough was enough, the fox gave off a faint cough to get the badger's attention.

"Honey, with all respect and love, could you please release Judy before her head explodes?" Nick said, gesturing at the bunny's facial color.

Gasping, Honey quickly released her grasp and allowed for Judy to inhale some much needed oxygen.

"Oh, I'm so sorry sweetie! I was just so happy to see you, I guess I forgot about my strength." She said and sat the bunny down, who just waved it off with a (rather relieved) smile. The badger then turned toward Nick with her almost unnaturally powerful arms thrown out. "Now Nicky, come here and give us a hug!"

"Ummm…Nah, I had one this morning and I think I'm good!" Nick said as he tried to back away, but still ended up being grabbed by the badger, who squeezed him so lovingly hard that he thought his ribs was gonna snap.

Finally releasing him, Honey stepped back and grinned at Nick and Judy with the sweetest smile one could muster.

"So, what can I do for my two fav officers, hm?" She asked, welcoming the two inside her office.

One thing could be handed to Honey; despite her eccentric nature she did keep her workplace organized and clean (minus a few objects that was stacked in pyramid-like formations).  
That's something that always made Judy wonder if Honey really was this quirky, or if her so called "insanity" was some kind of strange defense mechanism. Every time she had tried taking it up with Honey, the badger would just steer away from the answer. Even their fellow officers didn't have much to say, not knowing much about her private life or even where she lived. In a way, it kind of pained Judy that the badger wasn't letting anyone know about herself, especially after all the times she had helped them during work. Looking at her smiling face, Judy let out a mental sigh as she then tried to concentrate on her task at hand.

"We wanted some info about those bullets from that shooting. You got anything for us Honey?" She asked trying to keep her mind on her work for now.

"Heh, I actually do, and it kind of surprised me. C'mon, I'll show you." She said, making it over to her computer.

Both Nick and Judy were behind her as she rapidly typed on her computer, which was an older Apple-model. On the screen they saw the images of the bullet extracted from one of the victims. Both the bunny and the fox looked at each other in silence, as Honey typed a few more keys.

"So, here is your bullet. I actually had to look it up, 'cause this isn't your standard thing that you'd find on the streets." Honey said, making Nick raise his eyebrow.

"It isn't?"

"No, what you're looking at 9x39mm bullet, model SP6 armor piercing. Those things are only used in an automatic rifle mark VSS, more commonly known as the Vintorez." She said, turning around in her seat looking at Judy's and Nick's shocked expressions "It's mainly used by Russian special forces or military. So, I'd say someone's got their paws on some heavy military stuff."

Nick whistled, the news making him think on this.  
First the gatling-gun, and now this? It all seemed too fancy and sophisticated for some small-time gang like the Oasis Jackals. In fact, Russian rifles seemed too exotic for even such an open town like this. Sure, Zootopia had it's fair share of gunrunners, but normally they just sealed with small time SMG's, pistols, shotguns and maybe some assault rifles if Santa smiled upon them.  
Then again, these bastards managed to get their hands on a gatling gun of all things.

"What about the phone?" Judy asked, as Honey spinned in her chair again and typed some more keys. "It was partially written in a different language. Was it Russian?"

"Yes. But according to this it's registered to a dingo named Marvin De Luco, who is a Mexican immigrant." Honey responded, bringing up an image of the dingo, who looked like he was in his mid-twenties.

"Well, we just need to question him and see what he has to say." Judy exclaimed, instantly brightening up, but spotting a look from Honey made her ears drop a little "What?"

"Weeeeeeeeeelll… I'm afraid he's not gonna say much. The guy was found dead in his flat in the tropic zone. Gunshot to the head." The badger explained. "We found his phone in a dumpster near the crime scene."

Judy groaned, rubbing her temples slowly. This investigation wasn't coming off with a good start. Any possible leads they could have had, had just gone down the rabbit-hole. They now had nine dead gang-bangers, all killed by some fancy Russian rifle, and their only possible lead was now dead too.  
Giving a somewhat frustrated sigh, Judy shook her head and then smiled at Honey.

"Thanks for your help Honey. Seems like me and Nick are gonna have lots of work on our paws." She said and turned around "C'mon Nick, there's a certain someone that we need to talk to."

Two hours later, both Hopps and Wilde sat in the interrogation room, with Jackie Leerdon sitting opposite them in cuffs.  
The jackal was already coming off the Scream, so he really didn't look good. His eyes were darting from side to side as he tapped the table nervously with his fingers. Judy had seen Scream-addicts before; some who got hit hard would scream and cry and even try to harm themselves, while others were just kind of jumpy and display a great sensitivity to strong lights or loud sounds.  
Jackie seemed pretty well-off, especially considering that his dossier claimed that he had been on and off several different kinds of drugs since he was sixteen.

"So… To what do I owe the unexpected pleasure?" Jackie asked as he leaned back in his chair, flashing his gold fangs at the officers. His chin had bandage on it that covered a stitched six-inch cut, which he had received just yesterday when Judy had introduced his face to her knee. "If this is about the bank robbery, I doubt there's anything more to add. I've already given all the details to your buddies."

Both of them looked at him in silence, then looked at each other, wondering which one should break the news to this bastard. Judy then sighed, but as she was about to speak out, Nick interrupted her.

"Your brother is dead." Nick said, sounding as drop-dead blunt as possible.

The room went quiet, as the jackal just stared at them in stunned silence. Then, he started chuckling, which soon grew into a hysterical laughter as he leaned back in his chair.

"Hehehe… Oh man, that's fucking hysterical! You really had me going there for a while you flat-foots" He said. Nick sighed and tossed the jackal a couple of photos from the crime scene.

Any hint of a smile was washed away from Jackie's face, as he quickly stood up, his cuffed paws slamming into the table, all the while staring down with eyes like saucers at the photos laid out before him, each of them containing either his brother or members of his gang, each of them shot dead.  
His mouth opened and trembled, before he bit down and closed his eyes shut. A small, sobbing sound escaped the criminal, and a couple of tears dripped down on the table.  
Nick would be a liar if he said that seeing the smile disappear from the smug jackal's face didn't bring him a twisted sense of satisfaction.  
Judy on the other hand felt sad for the criminal. He was a scumbag, no question about that, and he had done many horrible and unforgivable things, but still… This was his brother that had died. As the sister of two hundred and sixty five siblings, the pain she would feel if losing just one of them was too hard to imagine.

Jackie slammed his fist hard in the table, making the officers jump. The jackal emitted a deep growl as he looked up at the two officers, his fangs bared and his eyes full of tears and spite.

"You mother-fucking pieces of filth… I've always hated you, but this?! My brother… YOU KILLED MY ONLY BROTHER!" He exclaimed, as he tried to jump out of his chair and leap at them, but the cuffs, which was connected to a chain which was attached in to the floor, made him stay put.

"Relax Mr Happy. We didn't murder your brother; he and your boys tried to ambush us, but instead got their brains blown out by an unidentified sniper." Nick explained as Jackie glared at him. "And why would we kill him? We didn't find out that he was there to try and kill us for arresting you until after he was shot!"

Jackie panted heavily, staring at the two. Then, he let out a faint whimper as he covered his face with his palms, his ears lying flat on his head and his whimpers growing louder. Looking at each other, Judy then got up from her chair, walked around the table and approached the jackal, gently patting his back. Exhaling, the jackal then pulled his face away from his palms.

"Jamie… You dumb little bastard… Always getting into trouble and getting in over your head… Fuck…!" He whispered, biting his lower lip. "… Do any of you have anything to smoke?"

Sighing, Nick reached into his shirts pocket and pulled up a packet of smokes that he laid out on the table, together with a lighter. He wasn't much of a smoker himself, but he had a habit of keeping them on himself in case someone needed them. Taking a cig from the packet's interior, Jackie put it in his mouth and tried to light it, but his hands were shaking really badly, so Judy helped him out. Taking a deep inhale, he puffed out a cloud of smoke and sighed looking back at the photo of his dead brother.

"Unidentified sniper you say?" He asked, looking back at the officers.

"We hoped you could help us with that." Judy said, sitting back in her chair as she stared at Jackie with her hands crossed. "Your brother and your companions were all killed by a military-grade weapon."

"And before his death he received this text-message." Nick added, pushing piece of paper with the printed out message "So… It seems he walked into an ambush. Any clues on who'd set this up?"

Taking another puff of the cig, the jackal looked at the two cops and then shrugged.

"Fuck I know, I never tried to mess with the big shots, and Jamie would never go against anyone without my permission. The Colombians, the Russians, the Triads, Yakuza or even the Italians, we knew those guys could just sneeze and we'd end up sliced, diced and dumped into some river." He said, blowing out a ring of smoke and then sighing. "We usually just stuck to street guys like us. I doubt any of them could afford something from the military, much less use it."

"Yet you had a gatling gun?" Nick asked, making the Jackal scoff.

"That old thing? Tch… Got it for cheap from this one coyote; the damn thing was barely working anyway. Hell, it was a miracle it didn't jam during the robbery. The only reason we bought it was to get through that damn bank vault." Jackie said, taking another puff of the cig before putting it out.

"Coyote, eh? He wouldn't happen to have a dark silver sedan and sport an annoyin' Cockney accent, would he?" Nick asked, getting a nod from Jackie. "I see, well it'll be something to start with. C'mon Carrots, I'd say we're done here."

Judy stood up, and collected the photographs of the crime scene. As she was done, she looked up at Jackie and pulled out something from her front-pocket and extended it to the jackal.  
It was another photograph, but this one was smaller and wrinkled, but also partially paled by age. It was a small Polaroid photo, depicting two young jackal-boys, one being about seven, the other about five. The two boys sat at a stair-case of a run-down building, the younger one giving of a wide grin at whoever was taking the photo, while the seven year old just pouted in a childish manner.  
Jackie took it between his thumb and index-finger, looking at the photo that his mother had taken of him and his brother for what seemed like a life-time ago… One of the few things she had done that stood out, simply because it was something a good mother would've done instead of selling her back and using the money to feed her addiction as was her norm.

"It was in brother's wallet." Judy said. "I figured that would like to have it."

As Judy turned and were about to leave with Nick, the two heard a whistle. Looking back they saw Jackie, who looked at while still holding the old photograph.

"Listen, I might hate you cops. I fuckin' despise you guys… But… Please find the fucker who took my little bro…" Jackie said, looking at the two officers with a broken gaze.

"…We'll try our best, sir." Judy said, and then she and Nick left.

"So, who's this coyote?" Judy asked, as she leaned in her seat while Nick took a left turn.

"An ol' buddy of mine, named Freddy the Spiv. Before I became an upstanding citizen…" Nick started, but then stopped, as he spotted Judy's skeptical look. "Ahem… Anyway, before my hustling days, I was more of a small-time crook."

"You, a crook?" Judy asked, trying her best to imagine the fox making a break in. "No offense Nick, but that's kinda hard to imagine."

"Nooone taken carrots, anyway he and I pulled off some jobs." The fox explained, taking another turn as they arrived in the tropical zone. "But, eventually I had to stop, because he was getting into gunrunning business… And lets just say, that was a little too crazy for my blood."

Judy blinked at this; she sure didn't know much about Nick's past. She knew that he had once worked for Mr Big and his family, and she knew that he had a mother who lived in town somewhere (she had met her very briefly when Nick had graduated; a spry middle-aged vixen who had tearfully hugged her son once he got down from the podium, but who had then quickly asked if he had met someone and stressed the fact that she would like some grandchildren before getting too old and decrepit) but other than that, Nick was almost as big of a mystery as Honey.  
Looking out the window, Judy then noticed that they were driving in to one of the "bad parts" of the tropical zone. Ever since the new mayor's election, there had been parts of Zootopia that sort of "went rotten" as one might put it. In places like these you either had gangs or mob family's making the rules, and there were even rumors of how the mayor took bribes from the family's so they wouldn't get too crazy in their own turfs or start full out wars on the streets.  
Taking another turn, a smile appeared on Nick's muzzle as he then pointed forward, to where something that seemed like a bar straight out of the 50's stood. Outside of it they could see a parked dark silver sedan.  
Parking nearby, Nick then left the patrol car, grabbed his police baton and moved towards the car, all the while Judy followed him and wondered what he was planning. As Nick got close to it, he smacked the baton against one of the turn lights, activating a loud car-alarm that made Judy yelp and grab her ears.  
Then, through all this screaming and wailing, she could hear an angry voice yelling. She turned her head and saw a coyote approaching the car while trying to fish out his car keys from his pocket. The coyote in question was somewhere in his early thirties, wearing a leather jacket, pair of dark shades covering his eyes, dark brown fur which had been combed up on his head and dyed jet black and almost looked like it was a solid rock due to all the hair jells in it. In short, he looked like something that escaped from the poster of one of those old motorcycle movies from the 80's starring Peter Fossa.  
Finally pulling out the car keys, he pressed a button and the alarm died down.

"Oi! Ya bottles are out yer soddin' minds?! Ya know how much sausage that kareem costs?! Ya twats will be bleedin' from yer knickers to pay me back!" The coyote exclaimed as he finally got close enough. But, upon seeing Nick and Judy (well mostly Nick) he froze with surprise.

"Hi Freddy, long time no see" The fox said, flashing a friendly smile to the coyote.

"Nick, oh ya soddin' tea leaf!" Freddy said, as he got closer and high fived Nick "Look at ya! Being a grasshopper and shite, I really thought Finnick was full of rum and coke when he told me!"

Judy meanwhile just stood there and tried her best to understand what the heck the coyote was talking about, the thick cockney accent making the english he spoke seem like some kind of alien language. It seemed like Nick understood the strange babble rather perfectly.  
The fox in return just gave a shrug, while Freddy's gaze turned to Judy.

"An this must be the lovely lil'twist of lemon I heard about. The one who solved that whole NightHowler biz, eh?" He said as Judy blinked. She wasn't sure if he was giving her a compliment or an insult.

"Ummm… Y-Yeah… It's me… Mm… T-thank you?" Judy said in a confused tone, which made Freddy laugh.

Walking by Nick and Judy, he then sat on the hood of his car and smiling at the two, as he fished out a toothpick out of his jacket.

"So, what can I do for me ol'gate, eh?" He asked and started picking his teeth.

"We wanna know if you sold any military grade weapons to anyone lately." Nick said, crossing his hands "Say, maybe a Russian sniper rifle?"

Hearing this, made Freddy nearly sucked in and swallowed the toothpick. Coughing a little, he then looked at the two and flashed an innocent smile.

"Nick, c'mon ya take me for some stroke or somethin'?" He muttered nervously, then looked away. "Ya know I don' deal with such shite and mostly work as a flounder from some lads."

Once again Judy didn't understand a single word that left the coyotes mouth, in fact she was wondering if he wasn't speaking in some strange code of sorts.  
Nick on the other hand, clearly wasn't buying it.

"Yeah, and the blokes that robbed the cab rank weren't armed by you?" He asked, narrowing his gaze "Carrots, lets go and check the trunk."

"Ummm… Nick, we don't have a warrant for this." Judy said, looking at her partner, but did notice the coyote's nervous glare when the fox mentioned the car trunk.

"Trust me, I'd say after what you'll see inside I doubt we'll need to ask for one." He said in a reassuring tone.

Following his instructions, Judy walked past the car to it's trunk, found that it was unlocked and popped it open. The bunny gasped, for inside she saw at least four shotguns, two sawn-offs, a few SMG's and some pistols.

"Sweet cheese and crackers… He has a frickin' gun shop in here!" She exclaimed and looked back at Nick, who turned his gaze at Freddy.

"Aaaand I doubt half of them are registered or needed for self defensive purposes~" He said, flashing his coy grin. "I'd say we're looking at least five years in the slammer, Freddy~"

"Oi, ya can't prove them things belong to me!" Freddy exclaimed, though clearly sweating bullets now. "I-I-I mean… I can just always say you planted them on me!"

"Yeah, but with your criminal record I doubt we'll need much proof, Freddy~" Nick said, taking the cig from the coyote and putting it out.

Giving a somewhat defeated sigh the coyote rubbed his head as he looked at Nick, and then smirked.

"Yer still a huge arse wanker you've always been, Wilde." he muttered, then gave a gentle punch into Nick's shoulder "Yeah, I did sell some gear to these Persian rug twats, their Pitch was a real number I'll tell ya that, specially the youn' one was really chicken oriental. What ya want I got's to keep me Jekyll somehow."

"What about any Russian sniper rifles?" Judy asked, as she closed the trunk.

The coyote rubbed his chin in thought, pulling up another toothpick to stick in his mouth.

"Nope, sorry luv, def didn't sell such shite before." he muttered. "Though, a couple a days back, I did get a call on the al Capone. Some strawberry was askin' if I was able to get some armor piercin' rounds. Even offered a good Oscar for it."

"And you didn't write down the address or number, right?" Nick asked, giving a nod from the coyote, which made him and Judy sigh.

"But, I recall the meetin' place was somewhere in Tundra Town." Freddy said, as the pick away and got off the car's hood "Now, if this is all I'm headin' inside, I gots a bottle of gay waitin' for me and a very juicy four by four."

"Aaaaaaaand the merchandise?" Nick asked, tapping his foot as Freddy stopped and cursed under his breath. "How about it officer Hopps, we clearly have a felon here~"

"Why yes Officer Nick, I fully agree~" Judy said, leaning against the side of the car "So, this felon can either hand over this car to us or get into more trouble~"

Cursing louder, he then reached into his pocket and tossed Judy the keys, and then he glared at Nick and flipped him the bird.

"Yer a fuckin' wanker Wilde, a real Geoff class wanker and yer Calbury is a full on Ethan!" He called out, going back to the bar.

Catching the keys, Judy looked at her partner and shook her head as she texted Clawhauser to send a patrol car over to pick up the vehicle and the weapons.

"You are one unpredictable fox, you know that?" She said, looking at her partner who instead gave an idle shrug.

"I prefer the therm 'fantastic'. Fantastic Mr Fox… Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?~" He said, making his way back to the patrol car, while Judy stood there giving a somewhat dreamy sigh.

Snapping out of her dream moment, she quickly hurried after her partner back inside the car.

"So, Mr B as our next stop?" She asked, with Nick giving her a nod.

"It is always nice, to receive a visit from you, officer Hopps and officer Nicholas." Mr Big said softly, as he took a sip of his coffee. "Here I was thinking you had all but forgotten this old shrew."

"Well, we were mostly busy, sir." Nick said, giving an innocent smile as he looked at the two polar bears behind him and Judy. Cop or not, he was still afraid of these guys. "Me and Carrots here kinda had our own run of trouble. Isn't that right Carrots?"

Looking at his partner, Nick saw that Judy's entire attention was aimed at lil'Judy, her beloved goddaughter, was busy playing with one Judy's paws. Seeing the bunny play with the lil' baby shrew pulled at some of Nick's heart-strings, and it took a cough from Mr Big to make them both snap out their dazes. Shaking her head, Judy then coughed as she rubbed one of her ears.

"Pardon me, she's just such a lovely little thing." Judy said, looking down at the baby shrew, who giggled as she tried to climb up the rabbit's thumb. "Anyway, we wanted to ask if you knew anything about the gang murder that took place in Sahara Square."

"Mmmmm…Not really, but I did hear about it on the news." Mr Big said, as he tapped his fingers together "Quite brutal I must say, and this is coming from someone who is used to a little brutality. But, you are not suspecting me, are you officer Hopps?"

"No sir, but we were wondering if you knew anyone who would own and wield a Russian Sniper rifle to such a lethal extent." Judy explained, trying to make sure not to offend the elderly shrew, who thoughtfully scratched his chin.

"Hrm… I see. Usually I wouldn't be helping the ZPD. But, since you two are practically family, I'm gonna see if I can find anything useful." The old shrew said.

"Thank you, sir. Your help is much appreciated." Judy said, giving her usual warm smile.

Smiling, Judy then leaned over kissing his cheeks carefully while Nick kissed his rings. As the two officers left, crossed his tiny fingers together as he looked back at the polar bear who held him in his palms.

"Bruno, do me a favor and call Kozlov, I have a few questions for him." The little shrew said, getting a nod from the bear.


	5. Chapter 5: Day of the Ocelot

Authors notes: This is one chapter I was kinda really nervous about writing, because I was scared of that Alexis would come off as either boring or Mary-Sueish, but I'll let the readers decide on that

Chapter 5: A Day in the Life of a Villain

The echoes of sirens and gunfire could be heard from somewhere far away; the smell of gunpowder lingered in her nostrils and she felt a taste of blood in her mouth. A chopper was somewhere in the high air above them, and screaming civilians were on the streets. Her left hand felt very heavy as she held the assault rifle in it, her shoulder hurting and feeling like it was full of lead. It could have been because of the gunshot wound or maybe because of the money bag. She didn't know, nor did she care.  
All her attention was directed at what was before her; a mother and child, holding each other in a close embrace while lying in a pool of their own blood. Neither of them were moving, and their backs were riddled with bullet holes.  
Holes which had been caused by her own assault rifle.  
It had been an accident and she knew it. A flash grenade had gone off and blinded her. She had thought that she had been shooting at the cops, but instead… It was just an accident… All just an accident. And yet, she still couldn't move or look away.

"Александра! Святая! Мне нужна тут твоя помощь! Опомнись!" (Alexandra! Saint! I need your help here! Come to your senses!) A voice called for her, being vaguely familiar.

Then, she felt someone grab and spin her around, but before she could make out the figure's face a shot rang out and his brain and blood mass sprayed her face.

That's when her alarm clock went off signalling the return back to reality.

Letting out a faint exhale, the ocelot sat up in her bed and she rubbed her eyes.  
Her father had once said that dreams are made up of memories, memories which define a person and who they are by their deepest fears and desires. At times she was wondering if the old man was just being very pretentious, or simply because he drank too much. She didn't really know, sometimes it must've been both.  
Looking at her clock, the ocelot saw that it was roughly six AM. She had at least two hours before her day would start, so that meant plenty of time for her. Getting out of bed, Alexis, aka Sally Babou, opened the blinds and let the warmth of the rising sun enter her bedroom and embrace her body while the alarm clock turned to the local radio station, the DJ's energetic voice coming out of the speakers.

"Goooooooood morning Zootopia! This is DJ Long-Tail bringing you the freshest hits, be they new or be they old! Today we're doing a special call in show where we take your music requests! Our first request today comes from morning-person Rita Washington from Outback Island, who is just dying to hear us play "Bullet in my hand" by Rat-light King. And you know me folks; I never let down a woman in need!"

The ocelot didn't pay much attention to the lyrics as she picked up a hip holster with an old revolver in it. Strapping it on, she then faced the window and slowly licked her lip. As the song began to play the ocelot quickly pulled out the gun as fast as she could. After which she holstered it again, and began repeating the motion at least five more times, making sure to go faster and faster each time. Exhaling, she then removed the holster and hanged it over the chair.

"Слишком медленно…(Too slow…)" She whispered to herself, rubbing her forehead a little bit. "Надо будет чаще тренироваться… (Gonna need to practice more often)"

With the song still blaring, she made her way towards a punching bag that was hanging in the left corner of her bedroom. She wrapped some bandages around her palms and then began punching and kicking the damn thing.  
Her uncle always said that fighting wasn't about using fancy moves, but to aim at the weak spots of your opponent and make them suffer for not being quick enough to cover them. Even her old man taught her similar lessons when they sparred after his service. As she kept wailing on the bag, she suddenly stopped as her ears twitched to the sound of something coming from the other side of the wall of her room to the right.  
It was the sound of yelling and breaking dishes, which signified that Mr and Mrs Antoine next door was at it again, which didn't surprise Alexis. Every time she passed the male anteater out in the corridor, he always smelled like perfume that was too expensive for his wife to be wearing, not to mention that he on occasion would try and hit on her, which the ocelot just ignored.  
Stopping with her punches and removing the bandages, she moved towards some pull ups that was in the other side of her apartment. Grabbing the bar with her paws, she began to train her arms, lifting herself several times. She then finally grabbed the bar with her tail, wrapping it around it in a tight grip before spinning around and doing more pull ups, this time with her tail.

While hanging upside down, the Ocelot thought of the plan which Bellwether had explained to her. If she had been right, both the bunny and fox should have taken the bait by now, meaning she could move on to the next phase of her plan. There were much easier way's of destroying those two, but since this was a custom order, she had to follow the sheep's wishes to the letter. It would be a challenge, but what challenge had she not taken these last few years and not come up on top of in the end?  
It was simple: First, you putrefy trust and let wounds fester, making them feel like every action becomes a personal attack against them. Two, you poison hope; make them believe there's no way out of the situation and fill them with despair and fear. Finally, you snuff out love, making that last flame vanish so that all meaning becomes lost.  
When that happens, they'll welcome death like a newborn child welcomes it's mother.

Releasing the bar with her tail, the ocelot dropped down perfectly on her feet, as was the norm of most felines. After cleaning herself up, she opened her closet, which was filled with expensive, tailored suits. The oddest thing about that was how such expensive clothing didn't really fit in the flat in which Alexis resided.  
The place was "minimalist" at best, with a medium sized bed and closet and her workout equipment. The living room was composed of a couch, two comfy chairs, a medium-sized TV, a coffee table and a bookcase. Her kitchen was simple-looking and the bathroom adequate.  
Nothing about it seemed to speak about her personality or character as opposed to the suits. An visitor would probably have questioned why the she wasn't living in a richer part of Zootopia instead of this small apartment in the most common part of the city. But, for Alexis it meant she wouldn't draw too much attention to herself, and that she could operate a lot easier. Holding her gray suit in front of her, the feline looked at her reflection in nearby mirror. In the mirror she saw a female feline, roughly in her twenties and with a somewhat toned physique. She had a few scars and old bullet-wounds in various locations (which blended pretty well with her natural spots and stripes) and a couple of tattoos; one on her right shoulder of an eight figured star with a feline skull holding a knife between it's teeth. Another one was on her left arm, depicting a female vulpine dressed like a nun and holding a little baby kit who was holding a cross in his paw.  
Finally, on the upper right was one final tattoo depicting a wolf's skull wearing a beret on its head, with two AK's crossed under it with a falling parachute in the background. Sometimes the ocelot thought about just removing those old perma-prints, but then again, she had kept the pendant, so what was the point of forgetting her past?  
Sighing, she then slipped her clothes on, after which grabbed her inner holster and put it on. Then she grabbed her MP-446 along with two extra clips and a suitcase from underneath her bed.

After making sure she was properly dressed, with the pendant in its place and the tie in order, Alexis stepped out the door. As she was about to lock it, she heard a nervous cough behind her. Looking back, she saw it was one of her neighbors from across the hall, who was holding a basket of laundry under his arm.  
The neighbor in question was a male caracal who seemed to be about the same age as her. He was wearing a pair of reading glasses, a simple t-shirt and jeans over a body that wasn't anything special. Alexis recalled that when she first moved in, he had introduced himself as Christopher, though claimed he liked being called "Chris". What confused the ocelot more is that whenever she and the caracal crossed paths, his body language would always change along with his speaking patterns. He'd start to stutter and his tuft-tipped ears would always press against his scalp. Currently, the same was happening once again as he tried to speak to her.

"Umm…H-h-hey… Mm… M-Morning…" He said, giving off a nervous smile.

"Доброе утро… (Good morning)" the ocelot replied, giving him a polite smile.

Before the caracal could say another word, Alexis hurried towards the elevator. She had a schedule to keep, and looking at her watch it was close to eight AM. As she stepped into the elevator doors, he spotted the caracal waving to her, to witch Alexis smiled and waved back. As the doors closed, she exhaled and began to go over her mental schedule. It might sound weird, but the ocelot preferred to have things properly planned out. Well, at least when it came to her "normal" life, not when it came to her job. That's when she'd have to improvise on the spot if it was required.  
A soft ding came from the elevator, as Alexis stepped out made her way outside and towards her car. Tossing the briefcase into the trunk, she then drove off to her first destination. Fumbling with the radio, her mind wondered about why she'd create these patterns for herself. Maybe just so that she'd feel like her life wasn't anything special, or just to create this illusion of being like everyone else. Just a simple citizen of a large city that went to work and lived a monotone life… Catching herself on that thought, Alexis then let out a snicker. What a silly thought, yet she couldn't help but to wonder if it was grain of truth in it.

After an hour-long drive, she soon entered Tundra Town. It was kinda strange how this place reminded her so much of homeland. Looking at the snow covered buildings she felt a pang of nostalgia, thinking back to how this had been her home when she had first arrived in Zootopia, all thanks to her "uncle" pulling a few strings.  
Stopping the car, Alexis then stepped out as she approached a medium sized church. The place looked like it has seen better days, but it was clear that someone was still trying to keep it alive and well. Approaching the large wooden doors, she carefully pushed them open and stepped inside.

The warm light of the candles within the church made her sigh peacefully, while she made her way towards the front where both a large cross stood along with several icons. Stopping before them, the ocelot sat on the nearest bench, placed the briefcase on her side and closed her eyes, relaxing her body.

"Хех, ты опять вовремя как всегда (Heh, you're on time as always)." A voice speaking the same kind of russian as her behind her said, making the ocelot open her eyes.

Behind her stood a fairly old-looking goat, wearing a priest's robe, a crucifix around his neck and holding a censer in his left hand. Giving the ocelot a kind smile, he walked around the bench and sat beside her.

"Я вижу тебя каждый день, но ты всегда приходишь до начала службы, дочь моя. Почему это? (I see you everyday, but you always come before the service, my child. Why's that?)." He asked, his old and tired eyes scanning the female gently, as he spotted the pendant.

"Мне просто больше нравиться когда никого нету, батюшка (I just prefer when there's nobody here, father)" Alexis replied, looking at the old goat and saw concern in his eyes. Then, she saw how his gaze was aimed at her pendant "Хех, недумайте ничего плохого батюшка, это из прошлой жизни (Heh, don't think anything bad father, this is from my past life)".

"Тогда почему ты его носишь, дочь моя? (Then why are you wearing it, my child?)." The priest asked, as Alexis closed her eyes for a second time.

She recalled the gunfire in the distance, the sirens and her screaming for help, how she was running so desperately to get any place else… The image of the dead mother and her child still vivid in her mind.  
Letting out a sigh, she then opened her eyes and stood up.

"Прoсто так, для памяти батюшка что-бы я незабывала свои грехи (Just fort the memories, father, so that I won't forget my sins.)" She said and started to make her way towards the door.

"Дочь моя, я вижу глубокую боль в твоих глазах. Знай, Бог и я всегда готовы выслушить тебя. (My child, I can see deep pain in your eyes. Know, God and I will always be ready to hear you out.)" The old goat said, giving her a smile. "Никто из нас небывает потеряным (Nobody of us is lost)"

"Хех, я уже слышала эти слова, батюшка.(Heh, I already heard those words before, father)" The ocelot responded, as she placed a thick roll of money on the charity platter. "Но, даже тогда они мне не помогли (But, even then they didn't help me)". She then went out without looking back.

Looking at her watch, the ocelot exhaled a little as she made her way towards her car. Getting inside, she then drove off to her next destination. During her drive she pondered about the priest's words. When she was little, she had been taught to respect priests. But, she also didn't like the idea of someone looking into her private life too much. It made her nervous just thinking about that.  
After this job, she may have to move and change her identity again. She had plenty too choose from. Or, she could just take off to Shanghai and do some jobs there, considering that she had plenty of old friends there. It wasn't like she had many friends or someone close to care about here in Zootopia anyway.

After a short drive, she just outside her next location, which was a district where a lot of animals that happened to be Asian immigrants lived. Parking her car, she got out and approached a large gate which lead into the place called Bamboo Town.  
Opening it, the ocelot was assaulted with a barrage of sounds and smells. Bamboo Town was booming with life as always, showcasing various shops that offered trinkets, clothes, movies, games, toys and so on. The food sellers offered fried fish, chicken, vegetables and all manners of cooked bugs.  
Traveling trough the crowds, Alexis made her way towards a large restaurant with a golden neon dragon wrapped around it, the name of the restaurant visible in the dragon's open mouth with blinking letters that read "Mr Ping's".  
Inside, the place looked like your simple Chinese restaurant with the waiters busy tending to the costumers. As she walked in, Alexis was stopped by an arctic fox wearing a Chinese dress.

"Excuse me ma'am, do you have a reservation?" She asked politely.

"I'm here to see химика… (the chemist)" The ocelot replied. The vixen looked around, and then carefully leaned closer.

"Through the kitchen and down to the basement, third door to the left." She whispered.

Following the directions, it wasn't long before the ocelot entered what looked like a meth, weed and opium-den in one package. The massive room was covered in tons of various expensive looking rugs and pillows, on which various animals rested and looked as high as some kites.  
Going past them, Alexis tried her best to not inhale any of the sweet smoke as she soon reached the end of the room where she saw a wolverine, looking like he was somewhere in his 70's and smoking a long thin pipe, a pair of black shades covering his eyes while an old military jacket was slumped over his shoulders. On each side of him stood a pair of snow leopards wearing black suits and earpieces.

Alexis had been told many stories about the wolverine when she first arrived in Zootopia. The Chemist, as he was called, had apparently served in several wars, which already got the ocelot to respect him. The reason for his nickname was because he had been blinded by a gas grenade and then been discharged, after which he had opened a small business in Zootopia's underground that had just grown over the years. If you had the right amount of money, he would supply you with both information and needed things. As she got closer, the guards stopped forward to block her path. The Chemist waved a hand, which the guards noticed and stepped aside, letting the ocelot move past them and approach the elderly wolverine.

"Heh, well if it isn't my fave ocelot, back in town and everything." The old wolverine said. "Want some soup on the house? It's delicious…"

"No thank you. I came for something else entirely." The wolverine took another puff from the pipe.

"Arrived to ask the old man for another favor, have you?"

"I came to collect a special пакет (package). The job was done and the money is here" She said, calmly pushing the suitcase and then opened it for the smoking animal. "You can count it, if you want."

Letting out a wheezing laughter, the wolverine then snapped his fingers and one of the guards produced a small box. He opened it and presenting it's contents to ocelot.  
Inside the box was a dart-pistol modeled just like the ones used by the ZPD, along with several darts, a very thick file containing numerous documents and a small vile marked with harmful-symbol and containing a yellow liquid.

"Thank you, this is just what I've been looking for." Alexis said, as she closed the box and stood up to leave.

"Though, why do you need such equipment? Not to mention requesting such a specific mixture of chemicals." The chemist murmured, with his guards tensing up. "I know it's none of my business, but I'm just curious."

Looking back, Alexis smirked then turned around and made her way towards the door.

"Curiosity killed the cat, sir. So, I suggest you keep yours at bay, or this cat might end up killing the curious instead~" The ocelot replied, as the wolverine gave of a loud laughter, which soon turned into a barrage of loud, wheezing coughs.  
Getting inside her car, she checked her watch and saw that all this driving around had brought her around 5PM. Which meant it was time for her to go to one final place before she could call it a day.

Said place was a nightclub located in the tropical zone called The Six-Pack Club. It was one of those nightly hangouts that played loud, obnoxious music of which the ocelot wasn't a big fan of.  
Approaching the bar counter with the box hidden inside her suit, she took a look at her watch again and looked around, as if trying to spot someone important.  
Then her phone began to vibrate. She raised her eyebrow and pulled out the phone. She saw a simple word on the dial: "Овечка (sheep)".  
Sighing, she then answered the call and sat down at the counter.

"Speaking…." She said, her gaze going through over the bar's interior.

"Hey, the fucking hells are you playing at you stupid pred?!" A blunt, male voice yelled on the other end. "The boss gave you specific instructions! And you go and murder gang-bangers?!"

Alexis wasn't really paying attention to the ranting of her rude "partner in crime", as her eyes was now aiming at four figures sitting around a table. It was clear they were fairly drunk, and they were composed of a grizzly bear, a zebra, a lynx and a wild boar.  
At the moment, the four drunks were leering over a female mink, who seemed very out of place for this kind of establishment.

"Hold that thought…." She suddenly said to the caller, placing the phone on the counter. "Please, a bloody marry with hot sauce and pepper."

The horse bartender looked a bit surprised by this request, but nodded as he began to quickly mix the drink. Once it was done, she took it and made her way towards the drunks, who had now pulled the girl to the table with them. She looked at them with great reluctance, clearly not wanting to be there, but was unable to get away, as she was held down by tight grips on her shoulders.  
As the drunks were busy joking, they suddenly saw the Alexis, standing closely by their table with a drink in her paw.

"Heeeeeeey pussycat… Eheheheh… You wanna join us for a drink?" The grizzly bear asked, being the closest one. "Don't be shy, there's plenty of room in my lap~"

"I think you already have someone." Alexis replied looking at the mink. "Though, it doesn't seem like she enjoys the company of some drunken мудаков (idiots)"

The drunks looked at each other and then laughed, as the ocelot studied them carefully. The zebra had a problem with his left foot, as he wasn't putting much pressure on it; the boar clearly had a weight-problem and had to take deep gulps of air whenever he breathed. Giving a mental sigh, Alexis then looked at the drunks again as the zebra piped in.

"Wohohoho… What's with the funny words?" He asked, with the boar joining in.

"And what's with the suit? You a lawyer or something? I thought you all wore tiny miniskirts!" The boar said, making the four laugh again.

"That was your first mistake…." Alexis said, glaring at them.

"Oh quit being such a sourpuss!" The bear said, reaching out a big paw and grabbing her tail. The bear laughed and playfully yanked at it. "Why don't you sit down an gobble up that drink of yours, and loosen up a little bit?"

The ocelot's grip tightened around the glass she held, almost cracking it, which brings the authors of this story to a most useful advice for how to behave in a bar: You never-ever make a grab at a girl's tail without her expressed permission!

"…That was your second…" The hissed, and then she splashed the mixture into the bear's face.

Yelling, the grizzly grabbed at his eyes. Alexis tail wrapped around his wrist like a snake, and she moved and pulled him forward so that his head went straight into the table, making his jaw bang against it with considerable force.  
The boar quickly jumped up to take a swing at the ocelot, but she ducked and delivered a blow in the boar's throat with her knuckles. He coughed and wheezed, struggling for air like he was having an asthma-attack. She then smashed the bottom of her glass between his eyes, and followed it up with an elbow-punch in his stomach, making him go down with a pained moan.  
The zebra was the next to jump up as Alexis kicked the table forward, making it slam into his leg which resulted in dry cracking noise. The zebra dropped on the couch, holding his broken leg and screaming in pain.  
The only one left was the lynx, who whipped out a butterfly knife. Giving off a somewhat frustrated sigh, Alexis removed her tie as the lynx tried to slash her with it. Then when when he lunged forward, the ocelot wrapped her tie around his wrist, sidestepped and ended up behind him, twisting his arm and forcing him to drop the knife. Then, making him turn, she delivered a kick to his leg and released her grip as the lynx did a backflip and smashed against the floor.  
Exhaling, Alexis then began putting her tie back on, picked up the knife and turned to see the girl mink's shocked expression. Approaching her, she offered her a kind smile and extended her open paw.

"Your ID пожалуйста (please)." She said softly, as the girl quickly fumbled with her purse and then produced said ID.

Alexis grabbed it and looked at it for a few seconds. It read "Megan Furlong" and was overall a decent forgery, but as someone who had made plenty of fake ID's during her life, Alexis could tell it was a fake just by looking. She smirked and tossed the ID back to the girl.

"Well, Megan Furlong, next time you use a fake ID, make sure it's a nice place beforehand." She said, as the mink meeped. Taking a look at the knife, the ocelot skillfully folded it with one paw and handed it to the girl. "Either that or you learn to use this. Now, I suggest you quickly leave."

Accepting the knife with an odd look, the girl then scampered away. Alexis looked down at the beaten up drunks who were all moaning in pain. Adjusting her tie until it sat properly, she sighed and turned around.

"Пьяные долбаёбы…(Drunken fucknuts…)" She muttered, heading back to the bar counter and picking up her phone, not noticing how the zebra had pulled a phone own and furiously writing a message a few friends. "I apologize. I had to take care of something."

"Tch… Whatever, listen here you ruskie, the boss gave you specific instructions! We expect you to follow them!"

"She gave me the instructions on how she wants it done, how I follow them is up to me. Now, please be patient and everything will be fine." Alexis responded, then spotted a figure entering the bar. "Just keep it up at your end, and we'll reach the next phase shortly. Now, I need to go."

Before the sheep could say another word, the ocelot hanged up and made her way towards the figure who was sitting alone and looking kind of nervous. He was a raccoon, roughly in his 50's, quite overweight looking and wearing a coat, a fedora hat and old looking suit under it, like he was a character straight out of an old noir-novel. Seeing Alexis, he approached and sat down next to her. Swallowing heavily, he then reached into his coat and produced a flask from which he took a deep gulp.

"You're late." Alexis muttered, as she crossed her palms together. "I prefer things to be according to schedule…"

"Shut up…" He replied with a raspy voice. "I had to make an excuse to get out of the house. Did you bring it?!"

"Depends, are you gonna do what I'll require?" She asked, flashing a sly smile to the nervous raccoon. "Unless… You want for your co-workers and wife to know of your sins…?"

"N-No! I…I'll d-do it…J-Just please n-nobody must see this…" He hissed, as Alexis smiled and pulled up the box, putting it on the table and pushing it toward the raccoon.

"I'll send you a message with the instructions, it's a pleasure working with you~" The ocelot said. She then stood up and left the nightclub.

As she approached her car, she suddenly heard someone call her out. Looking back, she saw roughly five zebras approaching, all looking like your typical high school jocks, two of them armed with baseball bats.

"Твою мать… (Goddammit…) " Alexis muttered under her breath, then sighed as she turned around "Can I help you, children?"

"Yeah, you had the nerve to injure a member of our sorority you fucking bitch!" The leader yelled out, cracking his knuckles as he approached her. "He's was our team's kicker, and now he's never gonna recover in time for the finals. And for that, I'm gonna pull 300$ out of your ass, you spotty fuckin' whore."

"Tch… He's the one who asked for it. Can we not do this? It's late and I'm tired, and I could really use a shower." Alexis muttered to no avail, as the zebra went for a quick punch.

Parrying it, she then punched him in the solar plexus and managed to knock some air out of him. The zebra went down on his knees, clutching his chest. Alexis quickly kneed him in the nose, and if her hearing was correct, it was the sound of his nose bone that she could hear breaking.

"My nose! The fucking bitch broke my nose!" He yelled, clenching his bleeding snout. "Get this fucking whore! Fucking wreck her!"

The other four rushed at the ocelot who mentally cursed again. Dodging the first swing of the baseball bat, she quickly kicked the batter in the knee and followed that up with an uppercut.  
As he fell back, Alexis gasped as something powerful struck her in the back of her head. It had come from a bat, luckily enough, it had not been a clean hit. She cringed her teeth, then wrapped her tail around the second batter's ankle and pulled him closer, making him loose his balance. She then struck him with several swift punches in his ribs and face, followed by a well-directed kick in his stomach that sent him flying on top of the zebra with the broken nose.  
Another burst of pain came, as she was hoofed by one of the zebras in her right side. As he attempted to kick her again, Alexis grabbed his foot as she punched him several times in the balls. One time had been enough, but she was angry now, and the zebra yelled and dropped, clenching his aching valuables.  
The fallen batter had at this point gotten up, and swung the bat in a flurry of swings as Alexis dodged each and every one of them, making the guy instead accidentally smash the hood of her car. Cursing at him in russian, she punched him in the kidney and began to slam his head against the hood of her car, until his black and white head half-way painted red and he passed out. Exhaling, she then turned around to look at the remaining fifth zebra, who looked like he was about to piss himself.

"Well?" She asked, looking at him "Are you gonna do anything?"

The zebra didn't respond and instead took off running, as Alexis sighed and rolling her eyes. She then climbed into her car and drove off, leaving the sorority-boys lying in the parking lot.  
Her body was hurting from all this fighting and beating she got into, but the fact that she had managed to come out on top told her that it hadn't been a complete loss. Though… Now she had to take care of her bruises… Which was one her least favorite things to do.

Finally arriving back to her apartment, the ocelot was about to enter when she saw the caracal stepping out from his apartment, this time holding a plastic bag with what she assumed was trash. His eyes widened when he saw her.

"Ummm… H-Hey… Mm… Are you okay?" He asked, spotting her holding her side.

"Yes… Just… Rough day at the office." She said, flashing him a calm smile and then opened the door.

"Did someone injure you?" The caracal asked, his voice concerned and unusually devoid of stutters all of a sudden. "The back of your head is… Bleeding. D-Did someone attack you or something?"

"Mmm… It's nothing, I'm fine." Alexis said and placed a paw on the back of her head, then cursed again, knowing she would need to take care of that wound.

Stepping inside and closing the door behind her, the ocelot sighed as she rubbed her eyes a little bit. After undressing herself and stepping into the shower, she later took care of her wounds with her first-aid kit. The back of her head was tricky, but she finally managed to seal the cut and bandaged it. She would have to wear a cap for the next few days, at least till the swelling went down. She then busied herself for the rest of the night with one thing, hoping it would help her get tired and maybe get some better dreams: Working on her weapons.


	6. Chapter 6: Meeting the Hopps

Hey, we're back with chapter six! And...*see's how long it took, then whimpers* Oh, I'm so damn sorry! I really am! There were a few reasons why this chapter was delayed and in a way put a small stop on this story. I had some family things happen that kinda put a stop on my creativity. Then I had issues with properly writing it down until tossed some really good ideas my way which got the ball rolling really fast. THen well, once I gave him the chapter for review, he actually suggested we split it in two chapters since I got so crazy that it turned out too long. So, those are my explanations and I hope you people aren't mad at me

Chapter 6: Meeting the Hopps

\- 

Nick groaned as he heard his alarm clock go off. Rubbing his eyes, the fox turned in his bed and fetched his phone from the nightstand. Looking at it, the fox sighed as he saw it was around seven AM. Stretching his arms out and emitting a long yawn, he got out of his bed, which was actually the drawn out bottom-drawer of an elephant-sized cupboard that was stuffed with pillows and an old mattress.  
Despite having a pretty decent salary, Nick still chose to live in the same run-down apartment which he had rented for at least seven years now in the pretty bleak neighborhood of Happy Town. Being located at the basement of an old apartment-building owned by an almost equally old bear named Baloo, Nick's living-quarters was unusually spacious for someone his size, probably having been built with bigger animals in mind. Also because it was in the basement, it was lying in close proximity to the buildings entire plumbing-system, making it very cold in the summer and very hot in the winter. His belongings were old and worn, a majority of them having been picked up at various flea markets and in some cases even been stolen from the dump.  
The reason for these living conditions wasn't because he was cheap or anything. Heck, back in his hustling-days he could make twice, maybe even thrice the amount of money he currently earned and he still didn't spend them on much besides the bare essentials. It was more of a question of comfort for the fox, as he had become used to this kind of living for a long time. Moving into something nicer and with clean, fresh furniture would almost feel alien to him at this point. Most of the money he earned he saved in mind of a gray day, which was actually a habit he had picked up from his mother, who as a single parent had worked her hardest to ensure him a good upbringing.  
Nick approached his desk, and saw that it was a complete mess of strewn out papers and documents. He shook his head, recalling how he and Judy had wasted the entire night trying to find any clues which could connect the dead gangmembers, the unknown sniper and the dead dingo in the tropical zone. So far, all they had come up with was zip.  
Jackie Leerdon had been truthful when he had said that the Oasis Jackals hadn't done any dealings with any criminal big shots, and the dingo had turned out be nothing but a smalltime courier and informant with nothing in his home or belongings that would suggest he even knew them or any russian. Either he had been very clean in his way of operating, or someone had made sure to remove all interconnecting traces after killing him.  
Nick stared at the mess; police-work wasn't exactly rocket-science, but in times like these it could a headache-inducing nightmare. Sure, strange cases weren't exactly new to them, but most of the time that shit was clear and in a straight line. This was a brain-boiling maze, and Nick was never good at mazes. Hell, even crossword puzzles could annoy the hell out of him.  
'Why become a cop then?' An ironic little voice in his head sometimes asked. Well, corny as it would sound, it was probably the desire of doing something good for other people. It was this desire that had initially made him to want to join the boy scouts… But that hadn't ended well. In fact, it was because of that, that had nearly ended any interest in the problems of others and also sent him into a downward spiral filled with cons and shady dealings.  
But now that he was working for the law instead of against it, and people could put their trust in him and vice-versa, the do-good desire had been revived and grown much more potent, especially in the upbeat presence of his partner.  
Then, his phone beeped. Taking up and looking at it, the fox saw that it was from Judy. Nick raised an eyebrow and opened the message.

"Don't forget, meeting my parents today. Be at your best behavior " The text said, making Nick smirk a bit and type a reply.

"Don't ya worry, I'll be a good foxy Wanna hang out for a little before we meet them? It's a lovely day." His text said. As Nick sent it, he got an almost instant reply which was composed of an A-okay and a smiley face.

After a quick shower, Nick put on his usual Hawaiian shirt and tie; adjusting them properly in the mirror and then giving his reflection a little salute.

"M-hm, still as handsome as ever~" Nick murmured as he strolled out of his apartment.

As Nick stepped out, he inhaled the morning air and smiled. The day was still starting and the air was fresh and crisp, which meant everything was gonna be alright for the fox. He was gonna meet Judy's parents and was dead set in making a good first impression on them. After all he was a smooth enough talker, so it shouldn't be hard to win their acceptance, even if were kind of anxious of his ilk. If they were anything like Judy, he figured that he had pretty good chances.  
Whistling, Nick began to head towards Judy's place. While strolling away, a lone weasel was watching him from a nearby car. Once the fox was out of sight he produced his phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Yeah, it's me… Y-Yeah, he just left… Mmm… Alright, I got you." He said, swiftly hanging up and making his way over to Nick's home while carrying a duffel bag.

After meeting Judy at her place, the two strolled down the street to a nearby park, talking a little bit about everything.  
As the two talked, Judy began to think about that conversation they had back at Arabian Nights. She hadn't forgotten about it, but she was a little scared of mentioning it. She was afraid that she had said or done something insensitive, and while she would like to find out what it was so that she could understand it better and apologize, seeing Nick being his usual, carefree self felt too pleasant to spoil by bringing it up.  
Her train of thought was interrupted though as they both heard a sharp whistle, followed by deep, gravely voice.

"Hey coppers! How's the clean living treating ya?!"

Judy turned her head and gasped at the sight of a familiar-looking van, which had been painted white, had a slide-window installed on it's side and a humongous fake-pawsicle on the roof. Looking at them through the open slide-window was none other than a fennec fox named Finnick, wearing a white t-shirt and a matching ice-cream salesman cap.

"Well, I'll be damned, Finnick!" Nick exclaimed approaching the van. He looked up at the large plastic prop on the roof with a smile. "New set up?"

"Well since you ditched me, conning's been sort of a dry well." The fennec replied, adjusting his cap. Though his tone sounded light-hearted, his face had an unamused expression. "Besides, this lil' business brings a fairly good pay roll."

"Well, I must say it's a great improvement." Judy said and smiled sweetly to the fennec. Looking at the rabbit, Finnick's face softened and gave off a proud smirk.

"Well thank you Bright-eyes, I have a lil' bit of skill when it came to cars and painting. I miss the old motif, but you know what they say, sometimes you gotta kill your darlings." He said, then fished into the freezer and produced an orange-colored pawsicle. Holding it out to Judy, he spoke to her in a low voice. "Why don't you have a lick of this? For such a fine woman, it's on the house."  
Judy's eyes widened and her ears grew hot from the compliment, and she quickly grabbed the frozen treat with girlish giggle and began to nom on it.

"Mm, carrot-flavored! How did you know it was my favorite?"

Finnick shrugged with a smile, while Nick gave him an annoyed look.

"Well?" The fox asked. Finnick to him with a puzzled stare.

"Well what?"

"What about me?" Nick asked while tapping his foot.

"What about you?" Finnick muttered, as he was about to turn away. "If it's about the shirt, I say you should have burned it years ago."

"Finn, be nice please." Judy said. The fennec groaned in frustration and then handed Nick a pawsicle of his own.

"You're lucky you got such a sweet partner, Wilde." The fennec replied, which made Judy giggle even more. "If it wasn't for her, you would have to pay like any other uggo".

"Jeez… You despise me, don't you Finn." Nick replied, trying to sound really hurt by the lil'guys words.

"If I gave you any thought I probably would have." Finnick replied, as he reached into the freezer and produced a can of Smokey-beer. "Anyway, aside from being here and getting served by yours truly, what's up?"

Both Judy and Nick looked at each other in silence, as Nick rubbed the back of his head. Finnick knew that meant that Nick probably wanted another favor from him. Last time it had involved Finnick dressing up as a nurse and Nick playing a rich old guy so that they could stay in a fancy hotel in Las Llamas. So, the fennec braced himself, just in case it was gonna be something stupid and he would need to sock his old colleague in the nose.

"Do you still have your old underworld connections?" Nick asked, making Finnick raise his eyebrow, his fist slowly unclenching. "It's about the murders in Sahara Square."

"Those dead gang bangers?" Finnick asked, getting a nod from the two cops. "Huh, I thought that was just your typical turf war shit."

"That's what the media thinks, but not really. They were gunning for me and Carrots here." Nick said, taking a lick of the blueberry-flavored pawsicle. "However, seems whoever told 'em of our location gunned them down instead."

"All nine were taken out with precise headshots from a Russian military grade weapon" Judy added. "Do you know anyone who'd own something like that?"

"Tch… You always get the funny cases, don't ya? Beats the hell out of me… Have you tried asking Freddy the Spiv?" Finnick asked, getting a nod from the two "Hrm… I dunno many gunrunners who'd sell such stuff. But, I can ask around, maybe the Russians suddenly got new toys."

"If they did, why use 'em on local street trash?" Judy asked, as Finnick scratched his chin.

"Target practice?" He suggested, getting an eyeroll from the two. "Oi, don't gimme that. I'm not a sleuth like you two are. But if I'm gonna make an educated guess, I'd say it's some kind of statement."

Judy blinked.  
"A statement?"

"It's a typical mob-thing." The fennec explained. "You know that scene in The Goatfather? The one with the horse-head? That was a very strong statement, ergo, an offer one couldn't refuse. Seems to me that someone is giving you such an offer."

"But what are they offering?" Nick asked. "If we're being warned, wouldn't it be more practical if they told us what it was first?" Finnick shrugged at this.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I am not a hundred percent sure it is a mobster. I mean, I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to target the godmother of the grandchild of Zootopia's greatest crime boss."

Before Judy could say anything, her phone buzzed. She took it up and looked at the message and gasped. She then quickly grabbed Nick's hand.

"Nick, we need to hurry! My parents have just arrived and waiting for us at the station!" She declared and began dragging Nick away while texting back. "Thank you for the free treats Finnick! We'll see you later!"

Nick just gave off another innocent look at Finnick as he was dragged away by his partner, while Finnick shook his head at the two.  
There was something undeniably cute about how this odd duo interacted and seemed to compliment one another. Plus, he could tell being around Judy made Nick really happy, as opposed to what he usually was after one their cons. Back in those day it would usually involve a bottle of whiskey and a couple of one-night stands with girls they had picked up at some bar.  
Then, a soft cough broke Finnick out of his thoughts and he turned to look at the source.  
It was a female ocelot in a gray suit and black cap. A gentle smile was on her muzzle.

"Pardon me, can I have a pawsicle?" The ocelot asked softly. Finnick eyed the young woman and flashed his usual playboy grin.

"Why of course you sexy thing. Any particular flavor?"

"Do you have pine-apple?"

"Sure do." He said, pulling out another frozen treat from the freezer. "And I'll knock down a few bucks for your phone number~"

Taking the frozen goodie, the ocelot let out a little laugh as she then extended a paw and petted Finnick on the head, followed by a scratching of one of his large ears. Usually, the fennec would have answered such a gesture by breaking their hand in three places, but he was taught to be perfectly polite around the ladies. That, plus his sheer adorability, was what usually allowed him to get a date or at least their phone number. He also admittedly enjoyed a good scratch behind his ear and couldn't help but to wag his tail at the touch of this exotic feline.

"Nice try малыш (kid)." She purred and playfully patted Finnick on the cheek. "But I'd say I'm a little out of your league in this."

"Hey, can't blame a guy for trying you know." Finnick replied with a smirk, extending his little paw as the feline dropped a few notes on it. "Though I'm a little surprised to see someone like you here. I thought you tailor-dressed people preferred fancy sorbets and stuff."

"I am not much for fancy things, though my clothes may tell a different tale." Alexis murmured, as she put the yellow treat in her mouth. Her eyes followed Nick and Judy. "So, those were the местные герой? (Local heroes?)"

"Heh, if you mean the ones who solved that Night Howler mess, then yeah." Finnick said, handing back the change. "Why, are you a fan or something?"

"Mmmm… I guess you could say I'm somewhat fascinated with them." Alexis responded as she leaned against the side of the van.

"Why, are you a reporter or something? Cause in that case I could maybe get you an interview~" Finnick said, but quickly got bonked on the nose. "Guess that's a 'no' then."

Giving him a friendly smile, Alexis gave him a little wave and then began stroll away in the opposite direction, when a text message popped up on her phone. She took a look at it.

"It's done, the fox is about to have a baaaaaaaad time~" It read, making her smile as she then slipped on her earphones and chose a song from her special collection of Russian medleys.

Judy was close to freaking out, while Nick was cooler than a cucumber and was casually checking his phone, occasionally looking up at Judy who was pacing back and forth. Sighing, he then stopped her in the midst of her pacing, spinned her around and then crouched before her.

"Hey, it's all gonna be good. I promised to be good, alright?" He said, giving her shoulder a friendly squeeze. "Seriously, learn to chill or else you'll have a heart attack before hitting forty."

Judy sighed and held his paw with great affection and gave him an appreciative look.

"Y-You're right, I guess I'm too jumpy for my own good." She said, giggling a little. "I mean, it's not like you and I are a couple or something along those lines."

Hearing those words made Nick smile drop a little, but then his ears twitched as he heard someone calling Judy's name. As they looked to the source they saw a pair of middle-age looking bunnies waving to them and running over to them. Judy quickly let go of Nick as she ran to embrace her parents, which brought a smile on Nick's face.

"Hey, how's my Jude the dude!" Stu exclaimed holding his daughter close. "Look how big you've gotten!"

"Oh dad, quit with the nicknames!" Judy said and looked embarrassed, noticing the grin on Nick's face. "A-Anyway, I'm glad you two arrived safely."

"Oh c'mon, just 'cause we're country folk doesn't mean we're soft." Stu said, then finally spotted Nick. "And this I take is your… Ahem, partner?"

"Well yes, that would be me" Nick said and took a step forward his paw extended. "Pleasure to meet you Mr and Mrs Hopps, Nicholas P. Wilde at your service."

Bonnie Hopps smiled as she grabbed the fox's paw and shook it several times.

"Oh it's a pleasure to meet you Mr Wilde! Judy has told us quite a bit about you! Like how you always watch her back." She exclaimed, as Judy meeped and started to make 'exnay' hand signs in her mother's direction.

"Has she now?" Nick asked, looking at Judy from the corner of his eye; Judy grabbed her ears and pulled 'em down to cover her face. "Well, I wouldn't be a very good partner if I didn't keep her lovely back under constant surveillance."

Bonnie laughed at this, all the while Judy looked she wanted to board a train immediately in order to hide her embarrassment. Stu Hopps on the other hand didn't look very amused.

"She has also said how you two always end up in dangerous situations." He added while crossing his hands.

"Well, usually I try to keep her out of trouble, but she has this knack for ending up in it anyway." Nick said while smiling coyly. "I mean, she sometimes says rabbit-feet means luck. And while she has two, I don't think she should be spokesman for the saying if you know what I mean."

This on the other hand, made Stu laugh.

"You got that right." He chuckled. "Makes me recall one time when she was seven. We had just bought a lot of flour for an annual bake off, and Judy got the bright idea of making pancakes…!"

"DAD!" Judy cried out in panic. "I've told you a hundred times, never to tell the pancake-story to anyone! And for the record, I don't seek out unnecessary dangers, unnecessary dangers seek out me!" She continued while tapping her foot.

"We're just joking!" Stu and Nick said at the same time, which then made them give each other a surprised look.

"Oh you two!" Judy fumed, then before she could say anything else, Bonnie called her to help with the suitcases. "I'll deal with you two later," she muttered while walking away.

"Quite stubborn, isn't she?" Nick said as Stu nodded.

"Yeah, she really is. Gets it from her mother's side of the family." The middle aged rabbit added and looked up at Nick. "Do you really protect her well?"

"Humph, as well as I can. I've been patched up more than a mummy in my attempts to keep her out of harms way." Nick replied, and then his expression softened. "Not that I'm complaining. I'd do anything to make sure she was safe."

Hearing that made the older bunny's eyes widen. As he was about to speak again, he saw Bonnie waving to them. He turned to Nick again and gave him a serious look.

"When we have some time over, I'd like to talk to you about something. Just the two of us."

Nick gave Stu a puzzled look, though he still gave him an uncertain nod. The two then went over to join Judy and Bonnie.

The four was stepping out of the station to catch a taxi, when suddenly, a police car pulled over nearby. A male doberman and a female goat stepped out of the vehicle and started to approach them. Judy and Nick recognized them from work.

"Manning? Bouvier? What's up?" Nick asked.

"Nicholas Wilde, I'm afraid you have to come with us." Manning said while fixing the fox with a stern look. "You're under arrest."

Nick and Judy stared at officer Manning. Then, Nick gave off a snorting laughter.

"Heh, really funny you guys. I didn't think it was april just yet." He said and raised an arm to get the attention of a taxi. At this movement, both the doberman and the goat pulled up their tranq-pistols and pointed them at Nick. Judy's eyes widened and Nick's smile faded.

"Don't move and put your hands behind your head." Bouvier said with a pleading tone in her voice. "Just do it, we wouldn't want to shoot a fellow officer!"

"W-Whoa! Whoa guys! The hell is this?!" Nick exclaimed, just before the doberman grabbed him and slammed Nick's head against the hood of their squad-car and handcuffed him.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Judy screamed in fear. "If this is a joke, it's not funny!"

"It's not a joke Hopps." Manning said as he dragged the fox to the backseat of the car. "Nick is facing some really serious charges. We have no choice but to book him."

"I don't what the hell you're talking about, I haven't done anything!" Nick said before yelping in pain as Manning pushed him into the car. "Jesus Manning, no reason to get rough! I'm not struggling here!"  
Manning mumbled something unintelligible and closed the door behind Nick. Both he and Bouvier moved to their seats, but Judy ran around and stopped Bouvier.

"What is he accused of?" She asked. The goat gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'm afraid we're not in liberty to say. You've to go to the station and ask the chief yourself." She said and got into the passenger-seat.

Judy hurried up to the door of the backseat and knocked on the window. Nick met her look. He looked scared and confused, like something caught in the headlights.  
"Nick, I'll clear this up!" She told him. "You just cooperate in the meantime!"

Nick bit his lip and nodded at his partner. Then the car started and drove off.

"W-W-What is going on?!" Bonnie exclaimed as she went over to her daughter. "Judy, what is happening?"

"I… I don't know… Mom, can you and dad find your hotel? I… I'll try not to take long!" Judy said and swiftly stopped a cab and told the driver to head to the station as fast he could.


	7. Chapter 7: Wrongfully Accused

Chapter 7: Wrongfully Accused

Rushing into the precinct, Judy didn't pay any attention to Clawhauser calling out to her as she ran up the stairs like a grey little lightning bolt and busted open the door to Bogo's office.  
The chief looked up in surprise from behind his desk, while in front of it on a chair sat a fat-looking raccoon with a dark green suit. The two stared at Judy in silence while the bunny was breathing heavily and fixing them with furious, searing eyes.

"Hopps…" Bogo began but was immediately interrupted by Judy.

"Why was Nick arrested?!" She yelled the question while approaching the desk. "Is this your idea of a joke or something?!"

"HOPPS!" Bogo said with a strict tone and slammed his fist in the desk. "Calm down and I will tell you what's going on."

Judy exhaled and did as she was told… Or as best as she could anyway. Standing with her arms crossed and tapping her foot, she impatiently waited for Bogo's explanation. The buffalo sighed, as he pulled up his iPad and showed a recorded camera footage of what seemed to be the evidence locker-room.  
A fox that looked an awful lot like Nick was looting the evidence lockers, taking out various files and bags of confiscated drugs and putting them into a duffel-bag.  
The longer Judy looked at the video, the less sense she could make of it.

"T-There's no way that could be Nick!" She protested and slammed her paws on the table. "Sir, you know that can't be him!"

"We checked out his apartment Hopps. The stuff was there and the fingerprints match." Bogo said as he rubbed his hands together. "Judy, don't hold this against me. But all the evidence points to Nick being guilty."

"Sir, I can testify that this wasn't Nick. We're together nearly every day, he must have an alibi!" Judy said, and then heard a cough from the raccoon. She looked at him, having almost forgotten that he was there. "And you are?"

"Detective Richter. I'm the responsible for handling this investigation." He said, while picking his teeth with one of his claws. "And from what I know you have… Mm… "Friendly" relations with a certain crime boss, correct?"

"I happen to be godmother of his granddaughter, but what does that have to do with anything?" Judy asked while raising her eyebrow. There was something about the suggestive tone in this fat raccoons voice that made her dislike him almost immediately.

"Well, considering your affiliation, and officer Wilde's criminal record, " he said and approached Judy while flashing a superior grin. "… It's quite hard to accept your words as legit, officer Hopps."

Now Judy was getting really angry; angry to the point of feeling like smacking the smug look off the raccoon's stupid face with a well-placed kick.  
But, she managed to control herself and looked at Bogo.

"I'm sorry Hopps, but as of this moment, Nick will be under investigation." He said, sounding genuinely disdainful about this fact.

Judy left the office, slamming the door behind her and letting out an angry growl. After getting some distance, she stopped and punched a nearby wall several times until her knuckles hurt.  
How could this happen? Why did this happen? Why to Nick of all people? As she angrily kept asking these questions in her head, she suddenly felt a paw rest on her shoulder. Judy looked back and saw that it was Honey, looking at her worriedly.  
Not saying a word, she then hugged Judy, not in her usual, life-squeezing way of greeting people, but in a comforting, gentle embrace. At first Judy was stunned, but then she hugged back, seeking the comfort like a sad child can do with an older sibling. She eventually exhaled and pulled away.

"Sorry Honey… I… I…" She began, but was then was shushed by the badger.

"I understand Jude, so don't apologize." She murmured. "Listen, I can tell you think this is a bunch of hooey, and I completely agree with you."

"Well… You got any idea on what we should do?" Judy asked, as Honey flashed her a grin. Judy's eyes widened. "You have something don't you?"

"Weeeeelll… I might get my paws on the footage~" She said, winking to Judy, which made the bunny brighten up quickly. "And then we can see who is messing with us."

Judy nodded, and she and Honey walked off to get right to it.  
What they didn't know was how a certain figure had overheard their conversation, and now was cursing under his breath because of it.  
Stepping out of the station, he pulled out a phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Yeah it's Wooly. We may have a problem; the bunny isn't buying the footage, and I get the feeling that she and their forensic scientist is gonna find something in it that's gonna derail this whole thing. I need you to sneak inside the station…" He said, and then growled as he got a not so satisfying response. "I can't do it, I still have a part to play here, so I can't risk getting discovered… I don't care what you say! You just get over here you stupid ruskie!"

The holding cells of the ZPD were in long rows on both sides of a wide corridor, each of them separated by thick concrete walls and made secure by hefty steel bars and doors that needed specific ID-cards to be opened.  
Nick was pacing back and forth in one of these, impatiently waiting. He had been arrested, he had been read his rights, he had been booked by a shocked Clawhauser and then thrown in here. He had of course protested. Once they had told him what he was accused of, he had told Manning and Bouvier that it was some kind of mistake, but had then simply been told that they had their orders and thus had no other choice but to put him in there.  
This was unbelievable, not to mention painfully ironic. Back when he had been a hustler he had been proud over the fact that he had always managed avoid arrest, and now that he was a cop of all things, he hadn't!

"Nick?" A voice came from up the corridor. Nick stopped pacing and looked around. To his great joy he saw his partner Judy running up to his cell and stopped on the other side of bars, throwing him a concerned look.

"Judy!" He said and rushed over, holding the bars with his paws.

"Nick, are you ok?"

"Oh, just swell, the food is great here. Water and bread and everything!" Nick replied with a bit of a sarcastic tone before giving her a serious look. "Now what the hell is going on here?! They say I've been stealing stuff from the evidence-locker and selling it!"

Judy told him everything, explaining that a duffel bag full of drugs and important documents had been found in his apartment, and that there was video-footage of him taking it in the evidence-locker. "B-but that's impossible!" He stuttered. "I haven't even been in there for like a month… Somebody's set me up!"

"I believe you Nick. Nothing of this makes sense at all. I mean, it's too obvious! If you really had done something like this, you wouldn't be dumb enough to be caught by the camera like that."

"Exactly! So why do they insist on keeping me here?"

"Whoever did this must've gotten ahold of your fingerprints somehow. They were all over the evidence that they found in your apartment."  
Nick groaned and ran his fingers over his ears.

"Dead gang bangers, targeted by an unknown assailant and now getting framed for a crime I didn't commit… This is starting to sound like a bad Hitchcock-film."

"Do you think it's connected to the case?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." Nick replied, waving a finger. "I've been thinking about what Finnick said, about the strong statement-thing… What if it wasn't a warning or an offer? What if it was… A teaser?"

Judy gave the fox and odd look.  
"… A teaser?"

"You know, one of those really short clips of upcoming films you sometimes see at the cinema? That, except with this!" Nick's eyes met Judy's. Noticing the way she stared at him, he suddenly felt very self-conscious and rubbed the back of his head. "Jeez, I'm starting to sound like Honey… Why don't you just bring me a tin-foil hat and be done with it?"

"I'll ask she has a spare." Judy laughed and gave him a reassuring smile. "We're actually gonna look over the footage together. If there's something in it that's out of place, we'll find it."

Nick nodded.  
"Besides me being there, right?"

Judy smiled softly.  
"Exactly."

Nick smiled, then gave off a little frown.  
"I hope I didn't scare your parents too much."

"They'll be fine, and so will you." Judy assured him, and held his paw between the bars.

"… I'm sorry for getting angry at you at the restaurant." Nick suddenly said, which earned him a surprised look from Judy.

"Don't worry about it." She mumbled and playfully put her fist under his chin. "Just keep that chin up, tough guy."

The two smiled and stared at each other for a few seconds, not saying a word. Eventually, Nick cleared his throat a little, making Judy snap back to reality and letting go of his hand.

"Ehum, w-well, I guess I should get to that phone-call." Nick said and looked away. "If I'm gonna be put on trial for this, I better get myself a lawyer."

"R-Right… Do you know one?" Judy said, also looking away.

"I know someone with a law degree who has been dying to put it to use. He'll be perfect for this."

"Good." Judy added, wishing to end the awkwardness of this moment immediately. She gave hime serious look. "I know you're not supposed to make promises in this line of work, but I promise you Nick, I'll get you out of this, whatever it takes."

Their eyes met again. Seeing the unshakeable resolve in his partner at that moment, Nick felt something strange fluttering within in him. He was touched. Touched over the fact that his partner, no, his friend, believed in him to such a degreed.

"Thank you…" He said with a grateful voice. Judy nodded with a smile, gave of a bittersweet little wave and then started to walk away. Nick followed her with his eyes for as long as he could through his cell, adding with whisper: "… Judy."

Getting into a police station wasn't something Alexis had planned on. Usually she preferred escaping from the law rather than sneaking into their ranks. Still, if her "helper" wasn't bullshitting her, then the entire plan could go south fast and that wasn't gonna cut it.  
It was good thing that her inner contact had managed to get her a janitor-outfit that fit her size, which would ensure that she wouldn't be drawing too much attention among these flatfoots. Another thing that looked promising was how a majority of them was leaving for their homes and slowly and surely getting replaced by the ones working the nightshift. The few who remained was the fat cheetah behind the counter and the bunny who was now in her office, meaning that Alexis had a perfect opportunity to get into forensics and destroy the footage. Course, she couldn't bring her phone or gun, since she didn't wanna raise suspicion around herself.  
As she entered the precinct, holding a mop and a bucket, she carefully passed by the main desk with her cap pulled down to obscure her face as Clawhauser was busy watching a video on his phone.

Maneuvering as fast as she could and concealing her face when passing the security cams, she soon found the forensics office and, of course, the place locked was locked tight. Grumbling, she then began picking the lock with her claw until she heard a soft click could be heard.  
Peeking inside she saw that the place was deserted. She then saw the glow of a working computer; seems lady luck was smiling on her today. So, not wasting any time, the ocelot made her way over to the computer. Putting the mop and bucket down on her side, she pulled up an usb-stick from her pocket and pushed it in. Using a decryption program, she easily got past the password and gained access to the computer.  
She was in for a surprise, cause while the room was very organized, the contents of the computer was a cluttered mess of videos, photos, music, games and other junk. How anyone could find anything in this chaos was beyond her, fortunately enough, that wasn't what she was here for. She began to upload a file from the USB-stick containing a virus. As this computer had access to the online ZPD-files, the virus would create just enough disruption to cripple the investigation and give her colleagues plenty of opportunity to manipulate it to their liking.  
About 48 percent of the file had been uploaded she heard an all too familiar voice coming from behind her.

"Hey Honey, I've talked to Nick. Now lets see that fo-" Judy said, but then stopped in mid-sentence once she noticed the stranger at the computer. "Hey, who are you? How did you get in here?"

Alexis didn't respond, as she looked at Judy from the corner of her eye, the bunny slowly approaching her while reaching for her paw-printer.

"I'm asking you again, who are you?" Judy said, her muscles tensing up on the pistol-handle. "Turn around and raise your hands right now."

Deciding to play along, Alexis slowly raised her paws and waited for Judy to come closer. Once the bun was within reach, the ocelot made her move. Quickly raising her foot and stepping on the mop, it flew up and struck Judy. It wasn't a hard blow, but was enough to distract the bunny and it gave the ocelot an opportunity to grab the her arm and make her drop the pistol. Alexis then kneed her in the stomach and pushed her backward before kicking away the weapon.  
But Judy wasn't gonna go down so easily, as she got up and rushed at the ocelot and returned the favor with an elbow in her opponent's ribs, which forced Alexis to stumble back and cough a little. The pain the ocelot felt was magnified on account of some not-quite-healed wounds from her recent run in with the frat-brats. Who would've guessed that it would come back to bite her so soon?  
Judy didn't waste any time, and she came at the ocelot, jumping and unleashing a roundhouse kick that smacked the feline in the face. Judy then went for another one, but this time Alexis managed to catch the bunny's foot and threw her into a nearby glass closet that shattered.  
Judy hissed and felt her body ache, and when she looked up she could see the ocelot remove her cap (which revealed youthful face with a fierce expression) and stand in a battle-ready stance.  
Standing up, Judy took her own fighting stance. The two eyed each other in silence for a few seconds, then in the blink of an eye the two ran up to each other and started to trade one blow after the other.  
Judy skillfully countered attacks with her arms and displayed kicks that were much faster, owing an effective fighting-style of her own on account of her strict police training and a brown belt in kickboxing.  
Alexis on the other hand favored powerful strikes that aimed at the bunny's weak spots, which showcased her military training and aptitude in jujutsu, karate and a bit of krav maga.  
The two eventually pulled back from each other, with Judy wiping blood from a busted lower lip, while Alexis left eye had started to swell up.

"This isn't a coincidence…!" Judy said. "Are you the one who set Nick up?"

"Sorry, I don't like to chat when I fight." The ocelot replied. Judy's ears twitched as she noticed her accent.

"Oh yeah? Then I'll kick your ass first, then we can have some serious girl-talk!"

Huffing, Judy went in for another strike. But it was then that Alexis turned her body and dodged, wrapping her tail around the bunny's waist and spinning her around so that she lost her footing and landed with her back against the floor.  
Pinning her with a vice-like grip over Judy's throat, she used her free hand and began to repeatedly pummel Judy in the gut, making her grunt in pain and struggle for breath. She then flipped the rabbit over and struck her in the back of her shoulder, dislocating her arm.  
Screaming in pain, Judy then gasped as she the ocelot grabbed her ears and pulled her head back.

"I am sorry, it would seem like I kicked your ass first. Can we still have that girl-talk?" Alexis whispered to her in a cold, ruthless voice. "You're lucky you know… Кроличья охота (the rabbit hunt) has only just begun."

But just then, Alexis felt a sudden sharp pain hit the side of her head, making her lose her grip over Judy and flying into the computer-desk. Hissing, the ocelot looked up at who attacked her.  
It was a badger dressed in a lab coat, who looked at her in uncensored, full-blown rage. Her eyes were thin and dangerous slits and her sharp white teeth were bared.

"You dare to break into my office and hurt my friend?!" She snarled, exhaling heavily as she tore off her lab-coat, revealing a pair of big biceps."I'm gonna break you in half and use you as a doorstop!"

Honey raised her arms and tried to pounce on Alexis. The ocelot managed to dodge her in the last second, the badger's clenched fists hitting the floor instead. The sheer force cracking the tiles in it.

Alexis got up and aimed a roundhouse kick at the badgers head. Her foot hit the forensic scientist in the neck, and to her surprise, she took it with nothing but a small shudder.

"Вы блять шутите что-ли?! (Are you fucking kidding?!)" Alexis exclaimed and jumped back, nearly tripping over the empty bucket she had brought with her, and staring at Honey in disbelief. It had been like kicking a rubber-tire!

Then, a bing could be heard from the computer. Alexis glanced at it and saw that the file with the virus had been completely uploaded.  
Her task was now accomplished, and not a minute too soon, for it was clear that she could not defeat this crazy badger in her current condition.  
Her instincts told her to run, and run fast, as Honey had now taken hold of her own desk and was lifting it up in front of her (with the computer still on it and everything) with the intention of flattening the ocelot into a feline pancake.  
So before the desk went down, Alexis made a grab at the bucket and threw it onto Honey's head, making the badger snarl as she threw the desk blindly and made it smash against the wall of the office.  
Alexis ran to the exit, just as Judy came to her senses and saw the suspect running out the door. Ignoring the pain in her body and dislocated arm, she got up and took off after the ocelot with Honey joining her, who by then had managed to tear off the bucket. Looking back, Alexis cursed in Russian as she ran through the station, startling Clawhauser as she got past his counter and busting out of the main entrance.

Once outside, the ocelot took a left turn and hoped to lose them around the corner, but before she could do that, a black van suddenly pulled over on the street in front of her. The backdoors flung open and a a pair of large paws came out and grabbed her, dragging her inside.  
Judy and Honey rounded the corner just as this was happening, and the bunny saw the doors close and the van starting to speed of with a stunned expression.  
She had seen that van before.

"The hell was that all about?!" Honey asked while catching her breath.

"I am not sure." Judy replied and gritted her teeth. "But I think a certain shrew owes me an explanation…!"

A cold splash of water made Alexis gasp. Her entire body ached and she opened her eyes. She found herself in a medium-sized, darkly lit room, and she was handcuffed to a chair in the middle of it.  
Three polar bears in dark suits and shades stood in front of her, one of them holding an empty bucket. With them was also a Kodiak bear wearing a light, purple suit with a black-shirt under it. He had a scar going across his left eye and another two crisscrossed on his right cheek. Said bear flashed a wide smile which showed some gold teeth.  
But, her gaze traveled back to the shades-wearing polar bear in the middle. He was the biggest of them, and she certainly didn't need to guess who this guy was. In fact, it was thanks to him she was in Zootopia from the start.

"Привет дядя Козлов, давненько не виделись (Hello Uncle Kozlov, long time no see)." She said, trying to sound sweet, though that wasn't easy when you were pouring wet and sporting several bruises.

Sighing, Kozlov removed his shades and looked down at the handcuffed ocelot. A mix of anger and disappointment could be seen in his gaze.

"Было бы лучше если-бы эта встреча прошла под другими обстоятельствами (It would have been better, if this meeting was under different circumstances)." He muttered, polishing his glasses "Александра, ты хоть знаешь во что-ты вляпалась? (Aleksandra, do you know what mess you've gotten into?)"

The ocelot gritted her teeth, she hated being called her by her full name, as it usually spelled trouble for her. Trying to give an innocent smile, she meanwhile used her claw to fumble with the handcuffs lock.

"Ну, знаешь просто делаю свою работу Козлов (Well, you know just doing my work Kozlov)." She replied, flashing a coy smile.

"Stop giving me that fake smile." Kozlov growled. "You went after the wrong people. Didn't you know that the rabbit is the godmother of Mr Big's grandchild?"

The ocelot's smile dropped at this.  
"I did not."

"Just tell me, who hired you?" Kozlov asked and grabbed the ocelot by her shirt. "Отвечай, Я пытаюсь спасти твою шкуру! (Answer me, I'm trying to save your skin!)"

Alexis just glared at him, which earned her a smack across the face. Hissing, the Ocelot exhaled as she looked at Kozlov who put his shades back on.

"I gave you a chance, Aleksandra. But, you've made your choice." He said, then nodded at the Kodiak bear who took out a large meat clever from behind her back. "Это Борис бритва и он будет работать над тобой (This is Boris the blade and he'll be working on you.)"

The Kodiak flashed his gold teeth again, while just sneered at him. Sighing, the polar bear then turned around and began heading for the door with Boris. Then, he heard Alexis call him out as he looked back raising his eyebrow.

"Дядя Козлов, знай что я тебя не убью потому-что я перед тобой в долгу (Uncle Kozlov, know that I won't kill you because I'm in your debt)." Alexis said, looking at Kozlov. "А вот за других я не в ответе (But, I'm not responsible for the others)."

Kozlov didn't say anything as he knocked on the door. The sound a of a few locks could be heard, as it then opened with Kozlov and Boris leaving the room, the door closing after them.  
Exhaling, Alexis looked at the two guards, one of which who was leaning next to the door and looking at his phone. The other one stood next to her, eyeing her with a steely gaze.

"Soooo…That big guy is gonna cut me to pieces, eh? And I guess nobody will be here to hear my screams, right?" She asked, getting a nod from the polar bear. "And then probably dump my remains somewhere, huh?"

"That's the general idea." The polar bear replied. "We may even serve you in some restaurant for the locals to enjoy."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good time. But, there's kind of a problem with this plan. Want to know what it is?" The polar bear gave a faint nod as he leaned closer. "Well, remember those handcuffs of mine? Seems like they got broken~"

"You lied to me!" Judy said with an edge as she entered Mr Big's study and pointed at him accusingly.  
The shrew simply watched her with pair of unreadable, black eyes and his hands folded.

"I did not lie child." He responded with a calm tone. "I didn't know. I had my suspicions, but I did not actually know anything. Rather than raising hell based on assumptions, I simply dealt with it my way."

"And look what it's led to." Judy countered with some venom. "Nick is standing falsely accused of something that could ruin his entire career, all the while you're holding a main suspect in detainment somewhere, doing god knows what to her!"

"We will put her in your custody as soon as we can. But first, there's a lesson to be learned."

"A lesson of what?!" The bunny asked while throwing her arms out.

"The lesson that teaches the ignorant, that one does not harass with those whom the Big-family owes a favor." He got up from his chair and walked over the desk, his hands behind his back. "You saved my daughter's life officer, if it wasn't for you, I may not have been a grandfather by now. That is a lot to owe up for… But in the nature of what I do, I also owe it to myself and my men to not show weakness, which sometimes means making use of some discipline. This woman that you're after… She needs to understand what a mistake she has committed."  
Judy leaned on the desk and stared straight into the shrews eyes, her own being completely fearless.

"I don't care about any of that. All that matters here now is how and why she would do something like this. Like, what does she have against me and Nick?"

"I doubt that this is any personal affair to her." Mr Big replied while scratching his chin. "She is a mercenary, mercenaries are only motivated by money. If there's someone who has anything against you, I'd say it's the one who payed her."

Judy pursed her lips and gave off an annoyed look. Considering her and Nick's long list of cracked cases, that was pretty long list.  
"Well that's a firecracker that I'll deal with once it comes to that." She said and looked down at the shrew again. "The important thing now is that she might be the key to Nick's release. I need her questioned at the station, not pistol-whipped in some dark room somewhere." She knelt down so that she was on the same eye-level as the crime boss, speaking with a pleading voice. "I beg of you, for Nick's sake."  
The shrew lifted his eyebrows and beheld the officer which he had grown to respect to such degreed. Sighing, the shrew then nodded.

"Very well child." He snapped his fingers, and one of the polar bears pulled up a phone and started to dial a number. "Though I can't promise that the boys haven't roughened her up a little by now."

"Where's the exit?" Alexis asked polar bear while holding his tie. His face was covered was now covered in his own blood, and he stared up at her with unfocused, groggy eyes. Getting knocked on the forehead with a chair usually has that effect on people. The ocelot groaned and let go of the bear, who fell back against the wall with a thud. "Never mind, I'll find it myself."

Approaching the other polar bear (who had lost consciousness after a lengthy strangulation by Alexis tail), she then dug trough his pockets and soon found a pair of car keys, which she triumphantly jingled with.  
Unlocking the door and limping down a corridor, she then made her way up a couple of stairs and soon found out that she actually in an old fish packing factory. The place looked like it had gone out of business years ago, which would make it a perfect location for getting rid of people like her.  
Eventually finding a door with the word "exit" over it, Alexis carefully approached it and peeked outside.  
There was a parking outside, with only three cars parked. Looking around, she then stepped out and pulled out the car keys and pressed the alarm button. Her ears twitched as a beeping sound came from a dark blue Mercedes that stood next to a stack of old containers.  
Smirking, the ocelot went over to the vehicle and entered it. It wasn't exactly her size, obviously been built for a bigger animal. However, this was more or less fixed as she adjust the driver's seat.  
Then to her surprise she heard a phone ringing. Looking at her side, she saw an oversized cell that vibrated on the passenger seat. Taking it up, her eyes widened as she saw that the caller ID was "Boss". She pressed reply and placed the phone near her ear.

"Boris, talk to me. Is it done?" The voice of the old shrew came from the other end.

"If you want for your boys to hear you, тогда говори погромче (then talk louder)." "And if you go after me again, you better bring a good supply of body bags." After this she hung up, lowered the car door windows and tossed out the phone.

Then she drove off into the night.  
-


	8. Chapter 8: Picking up the Pieces

Chapter 8: Picking up the Pieces

"SHE WHAT?!" Judy exclaimed, slamming her palms on desk while the old shrew exhaled.

"It would seem I have underestimated her, my child." He said, letting out a dissatisfied sigh. "I apologize deeply, I should have acted much sooner."

Judy let out a deep groan, expressing a mix of frustration and pain as her shoulder still ached from being dislocated. Rubbing her head, she then tapped her foot and looked at Mr Big again.

"Just who is she? You claimed that she's a mercenary, so that means you know who she is."

"Her name is Alexandra, and she is something that followed me from the old country." A sudden voice said as both Judy and Mr Big looked towards the door. It was Kozlov who had arrived. "I just heard the news, boss. I am sorry, I should have been the one to deal with her."

"Kozlov, please don't blame yourself." Mr Big replied softly. "If you can, please explain everything to officer Hopps, I need to think of our next course of action."

The two nodded in silence as they left the office, allowing the old mobster to think.  
Outside the office, Judy looked at the large polar bear for answers, but he clearly wasn't gonna give them to her now. Making their way to the kitchen, she watched him take a glass and pour himself some scotch from a flask that he had taken up from the interior of his suit. After taking a few sips he looked at Judy again.

"Her father and I have served together in the military. When the war was over and times went bad, I decided to move to Zootopia." He said, taking a sip and removing his glasses. "There was no place there for old soldiers like me, but Lebedev stayed saying he had a daughter to raise."

Judy gave an understanding nod, while Kozlov placed the half-empty glass on the table and stared at it, trying to gather his thoughts together.

"At first he was writing to me, mostly telling me how things were changing and about his girl. His little котёнок (kitten) is what he called her." The large bear said, giving a bitter chuckle and taking another sip. "But eventually he stopped writing… His last letter told me he was gonna join his wife soon. Some time later I got another letter, which was from Lebedev's daughter. She said she was gonna move to Zootopia and asked me for help." He murmured and placed the empty glass on the table. Took up his flask and started to refill it. "I thought that I would meet a young girl who was broken by the death of her father and who didn't have anywhere else to go."

Emitting another joyless chuckle, Kozlov drank the entire content of the glass with a gulp and looked Judy straight in the eye She was all ears by now, since the more she knew about her enemy the better.

"But, what I saw was something completely different. Before me didn't stand a frightened child, or a scared girl in need of a home," Kozlov continued, crossing his palms together. "Before me stood someone who had known the taste of blood many times, someone who had grown used to death and murder… Someone who despite her innocent smile and nice manners was a cold-blooded killer through and through…!"

Judy raised an eyebrow as she rubbed her chin in thought about this.

"So, what happened then?"

"Me and the boss decided to put her "talents" to proper use. She never questioned the boss's orders; she always did the job and approached them with precision. But sometimes she took it to the extreme."

"Like what for instance?" Judy asked, thinking she was gonna hear a simple heist job or assassination work.

"… She massacred an entire rival mob family during the funeral of the rival boss's youngest son." Kozlov said, making Judy's ears drop and gulp.

Sure, she had dealt with some criminals before who had done some really messed up stuff, but murder during a funeral! Something like that was supposed to be sacred, like a wedding. But apparently this wasn't the issue for this ocelot. Swallowing a deeply formed ball that was lodged in her throat, Judy nodded at Kozlov.  
The polar bear meanwhile closed his eyes, recalling that scene.

Heavy rain poured down on the funeral parlor. The building itself was of a large size and was clearly a place where one would pull off a fancy funeral, after all, a mob family wouldn't go for anything small, especially since the Estacados owned this establishment. Kozlov's car pulled over, seeing many parked cars but no people. Looking at his companions, he gave a nod as they all prepared their guns and stepped into the pouring rain. Approaching the parlor with their guns up and ready, they carefully opened the door and froze at what they saw inside.  
The corridor was littered with bodies in varied states of slaughter, all of them members of the Estacado-family.  
As they moved forward they saw more corpses, most of them with burns and bullet-wounds, while others were taken out with various objects, including one poor bastard who had gotten a chair-leg rammed into his forehead. Bullet holes of various sizes and calibers decorated the walls and furniture, along with black spots and big chunks of it missing, a clear indication that some kind of grenade had been used here.  
Finally they approached the main room, which like the rest looked like a war zone. It seemed like a bomb had gone off in this place, with shrapnel and charred remains all around, some even barely resembling what they once were. Also inside said room was the female ocelot, who was wearing a priest's coat and calmly drinking some wine from a soot-covered cup while sitting on a chair near the blown up remnants of a coffin.

"Привет дядя Козлов, чего так долго? (Hello Uncle Kozlov, what took you so long?)" She asked as she put the cup down beside her. "The party kinda ended as you see."

"Alexandra, what the hell is this?!" He asked, approaching the ocelot. "What do you call this massacre?!"

"A job well done, if I have to say so myself. You and Mr Big said you wanted the Estacado family destroyed, so I destroyed them." She said, nodding at the remains of the coffin. "Put in some C4 with Francis and as a lovely parting gift. You can guess the rest."

"You weren't supposed do it at a funeral!" Kozlov yelled out, gritting his teeth and feeling anger boiling inside him. "This is something sacred, Alexandra! Now, where's Francis' body?"

"Ну, я бы сказала что он везде (Well, I'd say he's everywhere)" Alexis replied and casually waved her paw about.

Looking at horror show around him, Kozlov then glared back at the ocelot who was behaving as if nothing has happened. Hell, she even seemed bored!

"So, you just came in and just killed them all, dressed like priest? And you call yourself a christian…!" He uttered when they heard a groaning sound coming from one of the bodies.

Letting out a frustrated sound, Alexis pulled out a pistol and approached the source of the groaning.  
The person in question was a middle aged snow leopard, who was still alive despite being burned and having a large amount of shrapnel in his back. Breathing heavily, he coughed up blood and gasped when he saw the ocelot pointing the gun at him.

"P-P-P-Please… I… I-I-I have a family… I… I'll l-leave t-the mob!" He whispered in a pleading voice. "P-Please… H-h-have me-"

But before he could finish his sentence, Alexis shot him several times and put a proper end to his life. After this she holstered her gun and turned back to Kozlov.

"Now, I've killed them all, uncle." She said softly, then walked the polar bear and headed towards the exit. "Since my job is done, please ask Mr Big to transfer the money to my account. Also, please inform him that this was my last job for your organization… I've kind of lost my interest in it."

The other thugs moved stop her, but Kozlov shook his head as he watched her step out into the rain and then slowly disappear in the distance.

Kozlov then opened his eyes and noticed how Judy looked kind of pale from hearing his description of the scene. Taking the flask and pouring a full glass, he then pushed it toward Judy.  
The bunny quickly grabbed the glass and chugged it down, then coughed from the strong and smoky liquor that burned her throat and insides.

"After that, I didn't hear a word from her, and it was also after that they began call her 'The Saint'. I am guessing that she left the country for a while, probably doing jobs overseas." He murmured, rubbing his palms together. "But now she's back…!"

Then, Kozlov extended his hand and took one of Judy's little paws and stared into her eyes.

"Officer Hopps, I want you to understand this… Alexis isn't your average street thug that you're used to dealing with. She's trained, she's skilled and she won't stop until her job is done. I ask you to stay clear of this and let us deal with her, for your own safety."

Slamming the empty glass on the counter, Judy glared back at Kozlov with a determined look, which already told the old polar bear what her answer was gonna be.

"Sir, I'm a police officer. I don't care if she's a goddamn Terminator!" Judy exclaimed and slammed her fist on the table. "She's going be arrested and she'll answer for what she did. She'll rue the day she crossed me…!"

Looking at her, Kozlov gave off a rather defeated exhale and put his glasses back on.

"I understand officer Hopps. But, I ask you to be careful and not underestimate her, and allow us to aid you in her capture."

Judy was silent for a good whole minute, but it felt almost like an eternity. But then, she gave Kozlov an approving nod. She then got off her chair and made her way towards the door.

"Very well, but I want her alive and well. She still needs to stand trial." Judy said, looking back at Kozlov, who gave her a nod as well.

After this little talk, Judy stepped outside. Various thoughts were racing trough her head, most of them questions about who'd hire such a dangerous person to go against her and Nick. The list of suspects was longer than a giraffe's neck; one could make a make a phone book out of them! She and Nick had worked together for nearly two years now, and in that time they had locked up gang members, mobsters, murderers, thieves, corrupt officials and even a pyromaniac or two.  
She also wondered how she was gonna track this ocelot down. She probably lived under a different name, and unless she and Honey was unable to find anything in the recorded footage, this mercenary was the only person that could prove Nick's innocence.  
So many things were just piling up, and all she had wanted to do this weekend was to have Nick meet her parents… Wait.

"OH SWEET CHEESE AND CRACKERS!" Judy exclaimed slapping her forehead, then quickly pulled up her phone and saw she had missed ten phone calls and eight text messages from her folks.

Biting her lower lip, Judy looked at the address of the hotel they were staying at and quickly typed that she would be over in an hour. After that she left the premises of Mr Big's mansion and hailed the nearest cab which sped away towards her destination.

The promised trip sadly didn't take an hour, but instead two whole hours because of a car accident in the tropical zone, which made the bunny extra jumpy.  
When the cab finally pulled over by the hotel, Judy tossed a few notes to the driver, telling him to keep the change and then rushed out of the cab, ran into the hotel and towards the front desk where a surprised female giraffe looked at Judy, who still looked pretty worse for wear since her fight in the forensic's lab. She asked in what room her parents were staying.

"Mmm… Stu and Bonnie… Mmm… Ah yes, room 325, fifth floor miss." She said while checking the computer behind the counter (which was wide and upturned as a compensation to her high altitude). "Should I inform them of your arrival?"

"No thanks! They already know!" Judy yelled as she ran to the elevator.

After getting to the fifth floor, Judy raced trough the hallway when she saw the door for one of the rooms opening. From there she saw her dad's head peek out, and Judy quickly hopped over and hugged him tightly.

"Oh Jude! You had me and your mother worried sick! What happened back there?!" Stu asked and returned the hug. When he parted from her, he gasped as he got a good look at his daughter, who's bottom lip and cheek had swollen up greatly by now. "What happened to you?! You look like you've gone through a vegetable grinder!"

Welcoming Judy inside the hotel room, Judy took a deep breath as she sat on the bed and began explaining everything to her two parents (though she did leave out the part with the assassin going after her and Nick). Their eyes were going wider and wider in the process of this, until Judy finally stopped, her throat being sore from the long talk.  
Bonnie's hands were over her mouth, while Stu was tapping his foot and shaking his head.

"See, this is why I was always against the idea of her being a cop!" He said, stomping his foot and looking at his wife. "Rabbits weren't meant for this kind of job… This type of life is too dangerous for her! Just look at her!"

"Stu please, she's a big girl…!" Bonnie began, but then looked down with a frown. "But you may have a point… Judy, this is not something you should be involved with."  
XXX

Judy stared at her parents, the she gritted her teeth and tiredly rubbed her head.

"Ugh, would just stop that? It's always the same thing…" She muttered, and then jumped off the bed and glared at her parents. "I have to be involved, because it's my job. I have responsibilities, now more than ever when Nick is behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, all after he worked himself to the bone to reform and become a cop too!" She threw her arms out and addressed them with an angry voice. "I chose this job because I wanted to help! Yes, it's dangerous, but that's something I knew right from the beginning. So would you please stop treating me like I don't know what I'm doing?!"

Both Stu and Bonnie looked at her in silence, as Judy lowered her head, with her ears going down as well. She looked away, already feeling regretful for yelling at them. This was something that she had wanted to say for quite a while, but she still couldn't help but feel bad. These were her parents after all, who despite making many discouraging attempts to steer her away from her dream, still had always had her back.

"I'm sorry….I didn't mean to yell at you two… I know you worry about me, but please try and understand… I'm not a little bunny anymore, I'm an adult now…" She whispered. "And… Nick doesn't deserve any of this. If I didn't do my best try and help, what kind of person would I be?"

She felt a paw on her shoulder, and she looked up to see her father's face. He had a soft and understanding look in his eyes.

"We know that Jude, but no matter how old you get, you'll always be our precious little girl." He said. He was soon joined by Bonnie, who held Judy's paw and nodded, her eye's a little watery.

"Yes, sniff, and I'm sorry if we keep nagging on you about this… We can't just help it dear… We just can't help worrying, but you should know that we are proud of you."

Now Judy was the one who started to feel teary-eyed, and she nodded. The three then hugged. After this hard and horrible day, it was just what Judy needed.

A soft click of the lock and soon the door was opened as Alexis stumbled into her apartment and nearly collapsed. The ocelot flicked the lights on as she closed the door after herself. Coughing a little, she hissed while holding her hurting side, then removed the janitor's clothes and tossed them aside. She would have to dispose of them later; she could have burned them along with that car, but her spare clothes we're still in the rental car she had parked before going to the station, and going half-naked trough the city wasn't a prospect she liked thinking about. Making her way towards the bathroom, she gathered all the needed items to take care of her injuries.  
She was later sitting in the kitchen in her underwear and carefully stitching up a gash on her left side, while on the table laid some fresh bandages and an opened bottle of vodka. Painkillers would have been better, but she was out of them at the moment, so this would have to do. Finishing with the stitches and applying some bandages (including a medical eye patch for her blackened eye), Alexis took a deep gulp from the bottle as she began to think everything over.

So, she had a tussle with her target, who had actually turned out to be quite an impressive fighter. Combined with that badger doing a real number on her, and the fact that her target was actually the godmother of Mr Big's granddaughter (she swore to give that no good Wooly an earful for missing that).  
So, what did this all boil down to? Well, any normal merc or assassin would have dropped this job right away, tucked their tails between their legs and left Zootopia for good, but instead Alexis couldn't help but to smile a little. This gig had gone from kind of interesting to very captivating in a very short length of time. It was unfortunate that uncle Kozlov was involved, but as things were right now, she was having too much fun to pass this up. She hadn't been this excited since those jobs back in France.

Taking the bottle, she took another deep gulp when she heard a knock on the door. Raising an eyebrow, Alexis pulled out a Makarov pistol from underneath the table, quickly put on one of her shirts, some sweatpants and a pair of shades to cover her eye. Approaching the door, she innocently screwed on the silencer as another knock followed.

"Да (yes), who is it?" She asked, looking trough the peephole. To her surprise, she saw that it was the caracal from down the hall, Christopher. Hiding the pistol behind her back, she then opened the door a little. "Christopher, is something wrong?"

The caracal gave his usual, nervous smile and adjusted his glasses a little, staring at the ocelot and giving of a little cough while she looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Ummm… S-sorry… I heard you c-came back… And… Mm… I-I w-wanted to check you up… If… Mmm… If you were okay." He said, scratching the back of his head while his pointy ears were pressed against his scalp. "I mean, last time I saw you. You seemed hurt and I was just really concerned."

Alexis was taken back by this and blinked a few times. It wasn't every day that someone was genuinely worried about her. Seeing a shade of blush in the caracal's ears, it finally clicked in her head as to why this person was so nervous around her; he must have a crush on her!  
Giving off a soft smile, as she leaned over and kissed Chris on the cheek, which made him meep with surprise.

"Спасибо (Thank you) for your concern Christopher." She said gently, and then patted the spot where she had kissed him (all the while making sure that the gun in her other hand stayed hidden behind her). "I'm perfectly fine, don't worry about it."

The caracal's ears went redder, and then he noticed her wearing the shades which made him raise his eyebrows, but he decided not to ask questions. Instead he bit his lower lip and then looked back at her again.

"Sooo… Mm… Y-You wanna… I don't know… Hang out? I-I mean n-not right now! J-just ya know… T-tomorrow maybe?" He asked, giving the nervous smile again.

The ocelot thought about it as she looked at Chris. Considering that the bunny had seen her face, combined with the fact that Mr Big probably had probably sent his goons out to look for her, she was gonna need to lay low for a while. Plus, she needed some time for her injuries to heal properly, and since the virus had done it's job, she would have plenty of time before needing to prepare for the next part of the plan.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind spending some quality time." Alexis said, giving him another smile, though this one wasn't an insincere one like they usually were. "Now, do forgive me. But I need some rest, I've had a long day."

"S-S-Sure… Mm… Have a good rest." He said, as Alexis closed the door and exhaled in relief.

Leaning her back against the wall, she slid down and laid the pistol besides herself. Rubbing her head a little, she then shook the thoughts away. It was ridiculous to think someone actually cared for her, especially a complete stranger like that caracal. Why would he do such a silly thing anyway? Simple attraction? Yeah… That was probably it. She didn't deny that she had a great body, but she had always been more of a fighter than a lover, which was probably why her earlier romantic entanglements had been both few and brief.  
Shaking her head again, she then stood up and picked up her gun up in the process. She had to get her head clear and not busy herself with such dumb thoughts. Since Mr Big would be coming for her, it would be wise to prepare for such an occasion, not to mention she knew this was gonna be another sleepless night for her. Going to her bedroom, she opened her closet, removed a loose board at it's bottom, and from it produced a double barreled shotgun, a few boxes of ammo, a box of nails, some clippers, a saw and finally a box of screws. Making her way back to the kitchen, she sawed off the barrels of the shotgun. Next thing she did was to remove the pellets and gun powder from the shotgun ammo and dump them into separate bowls. She then began to cut the nails into smaller pieces, then used them to fill the empty shotgun-shells.

As she was doing this, sounds of a loud argument could be heard through the wall of her apartment. It seemed like the anteaters were arguing again… Putting on a melody on her phone and putting a pair of earphones in her ears, the lyrics drowned out the world around her.

Arriving to the precinct the next day, Judy didn't waste any time as she hurried to Honey's office. As she came in, she noticed that most of the mess had been cleaned up. The badger herself was busy typing something on what Judy assumed was her personal laptop (the Believe- and They are among us-stickers on it kind of gave it away), muttering something under her breath. She was sitting with her back at her by her mangled desk, who was surprisingly still standing, with a stack of coffee cups arranged in a pyramid formation next to her.  
Judy carefully approached the badger and tapped her shoulder. Letting out a shocked yelp, Honey spun around in her chair with her claws at the ready, making Judy jump back and take notice of the badger's wild expression.

"Honey! Honey! It's me! Chill!" Judy exclaimed and held her paws up. Seeing who it was, Honey relaxed.

"Oh… Sorry Jude… Mm… What time is it?" She asked, rubbing her eyes and combing back her messy hair with her paw. "Mmmm… Could you get me some coffee?"

"I… Think you've had enough. And it's around 10 AM, Honey." The bunny muttered, looking at the badger who turned back to the monitor. "Have you been here all night?"

"I've been trying to restore the footage. That bitch uploaded some sort of virus and it really screwed up the recording, plus a good chunk of my files and those kept at ZPD-website." Honey explained while shaking a nearly empty coffee mug in her paw, which she turned upside down and then stuck out her tongue, catching the very last drop of java with it.

Hearing those words made Judy's heart drop and sink all the way to her feet, followed by a feeling of having all the air sucked out of her.

"Y-Y-You mean, the recording is gone?" She asked and was surprised by how low her voice sounded.

"Not exactly per-say. It's damaged, but I think I can restore it." Honey said to calm down the bunny. "That's what I've been doing this entire night actually."

"Can't you get a copy from the police-cameras?"

At this, Honey turned around in her chair and gave the bunny a serious look, which caught Judy off guard.  
"That's what I thought, but when I tried to go and find a backup-file with our Nick-lookalike, I couldn't find any."

"But Bogo showed me the footage…" Judy mumbled.

"He probably showed it through a link on the website, which is down now thanks to the virus. Only way the backup could disappear, is if someone removed it."

Judy's eyes widened, then she punched herself in the palm and cursed.  
"Damn! So she removed that as well…!"

"Actually… No." Honey said while scratching the back of her head. "While I didn't find the footage from the evidence locker, I did find the footage of our unwelcome little guest entering and exiting the station. She came in around eight dressed as a janitor, and went straight to this place all the while avoiding face-contact with the cameras. Point is, she went right over here… Like she knew where the forensic lab were beforehand, and she then left in a hurry as we chased her out… There was no way that she could've removed the backup-footage last night."

Honey gave her a meaning look, which prompted Judy to blink repeatedly as she processed what the badger was saying.  
"What are you suggesting?" She asked in a low voice while throwing a glance over he shoulder. "… That there could be someone here at the station-"

"I'm not saying anything yet." Honey whispered to her. "But I do think we need to keep our eyes peeled and our mouths shut in the precinct from now on… At least until we know who to trust… Ugh, but here I am blabbing all about what I've come up with. What about you? Did the old coot have anything useful to say?"

Judy shrugged at this.  
"A couple of things, but nothing that was solid enough to bring to court."

Just then the two heard a cough and they both turned their heads, seeing detective Richter standing in the doorway, staring at Judy and wearing his ever present smug smile on his face.

"Any problems officer Hopps? I heard you had a little tussle last night with some mysterious figure." He murmured, his eyes narrowing into slits. "And now I hear you have the footage, which I doubt you have the authority to be in possession off. Tssk, tsk,tsssk… Could it be so that Mr Wilde's criminal leanings has rubbed off on you?"

That comment made Judy practically boil with rage, though before she could give any angry retort, Honey stepped up from her chair, walked over to Richter and poked her claw into the detective's chest while bearing her teeth.

"First of all, nobody comes in here without my permission, so you better stay in that doorway buster! And second, if I hear you talk to any of my friends in such a tone again," she said, and then grabbed the surprised raccoon's snout in a tight grip. "So help me, I'm gonna pile-drive your head so deep into your torso that you'll have to unbutton your shirt to eat!"

Richter stepped back and glared at Honey while he adjusted his suit.

"Why of course, Mrs Barker, I understand… After all, you and Wilde must be like birds of a feather." He said, his face turning into a smirk again.

Judy got a surprised look. 'Mrs?' She thought in confused manner. She couldn't recall Honey ever mentioning that she was married.

Richter turned around and began to walk away, though not before saying one last thing over his shoulder. "I'll be sure to inform your friends at the 29th precinct of how you said "Hi" to them."

This made Honey back away from the doorway, looking rather pale and biting her lower lip as the despicable raccoon disappeared out of sight. Turning around, she quickly made her way back to her computer.  
Judy gave Honey a worried look, and was about to place a hand on her friend's shoulder when the badger raised her palm.

"Save it Jude, I'll be fine. Just check on Nick, I'll give ya a call once the footage is restored."

Judy stared in silence, but gave a nod as she began to leave the forensics room, only to stop in the doorway and look back at Honey.  
"Only one thing… Could you see if you could find any info on someone in the underworld known as the saint?"

"Sure…" Honey responded without looking at her. Judy then left, but her sensitive ears picked up an audible whimper escaping from the badger.

Feeling confused and angry, Judy walked through the lobby with hard steps. If there had been any redeemable parts about Richter before, making Honey upset had completely killed those parts. What was that guy's problem anyway?

"Judy?" A voice called to her. She looked up and saw Clawhauser look at her with a worried look from behind his counter. "Oh god, are you okay? I heard you were attacked last night!"

"I'm a little beat up, but I'm still in one piece."

Clawhauser exhaled in relief.  
"Thank goodness… How is Nick? I haven't had the chance to go see him yet." He waved his paw at his computer in a meaning fashion. "You know, all the paperwork I've had to do, plus this thing with the ZPD-website has made things really difficult for everyone… Does he manage?"

"Don't worry, that fox is a rock." Judy replied. "He's just waiting for his lawyer, who should be here sometime today."

"Oh, he's actually here already." The cheetah said, making Judy's ears stand up in interest. "He came to counter and asked where Nick was. He should be in the cell block, if he's made it there by now…"

Judy's brow knit at this.  
"What do you mean made it there by now?" She asked. "Who is this lawyer?"

"You've gotta be kidding me!" She said a couple minutes later as she stood in the cell block, looking at the vulpine and his lawyer. "Nick! Is this a frickin' joke?!"

"Oh hey Carrots, I was wondering when you'd come by. I believe you've already met my lawyer~" He said gestured to a very familiar-looking sloth. "Flash the hundred yard dash~"

Flash gave his usual slow smile and raised hand in a greeting. He was about to say "Hi" to Judy, but the bunny held up her palm to interrupt him.

"Nick, what do you think you're doing?!" She asked her partner. "How can you have Flash represent you?! He works at the DMV!"

"Well yes, yes he does. Buuuuuuuut Flash also has a lawyer's master degree and quite the silver tongue if I do say so myself~" Nick murmured while Flash gave a slow nod. "He'll know how to keep everyone busy while you'll find a way to prove I'm innoce… What happened to your face?"

Judy gave a faint sigh as she looked at Nick. Most of the swelling in her face had gone down by now, but her body had started to ache pretty badly since last night. She began to tell him about what had transpired in forensics lab, her talk with Mr Big and even her talk to her parents. The fox raised an eyebrow and rubbed his chin.

"Well, this is an interesting turn of events if I have to say so myself." Nick muttered as he leaned against the glass. "Hiring someone to take you and me out. I should be flattered in a way~"

"Hmph, you can stroke your ego AFTER we find out who's behind this." Judy said, as she paced back and forth. "The list of suspects who hired her won't be small, so there's a huge problem already. Plus, we don't know where she's hiding."

"But…" Flash began to talk, though as usual, it was a lengthy business. "If you… Find her… We can… Prove… There is… A… Conspiracy." Nick nodded at this.

"That's what I was thinking. Well, we do know a certain weasel who might know where she is~" The fox said, flashing Judy his smug smirk as she quickly caught on to what he was talking about. "Though finding him without me might take some time. Why don't you ask Finnick for help? He'll know where Weaselton is."

"Sounds good. Well, guess I'm gonna be doing that while Honey is gonna be restoring the footage." She said, placing her paw on the glass door. "Don't you worry slick, you'll be out of here before breakfast time."

Nick crouched as he placed his own paw against hers, giving her an understanding nod.

"Also, Carrots, can I ask for a favor?" Getting a nod, he closed his eyes "Can you check up on my mom? She came here yesterday and I'm kinda worried…"

"Say no more Nick~" She said, giving him a friendly wink as she then took off, making Nick sigh.

"She… Really… Cares… About you." Flash said and received a warm smile from Nick. "Haven't… Seen… You… So… Happy… In… years."


	9. Chapter 9: The good, the bad, the weasel

Chapter 9: The Good, the Bad and the Weasel

Sitting in her police car, Judy nervously tapped the steering wheel as she turned her head and stared at a medium sized house.  
The building was roughly three stories high and was painted with red and white colors that had begun to peel off, and a multitude of bikes and cars of various sizes made it clear that it had many different tenants living there.  
Taking a deep breath, she finally stepped out of the car and made her way over to the house.

Stepping inside, she looked at the mailboxes and eventually found the needed name and apartment number. After going up three cases of stairs, the bunny soon found herself standing before the door. She extended her hand and was about to knock, but then quickly pulled it back.  
Why did she feel so nervous? All she had to do was to visit her partner's mother and reassure her that everything was going to be all right. Nothing about that sounded difficult in practice, or particularly hard in execution, but for some reason Judy still didn't dare to knock.

"Come on Judy, you can do this… Just… Knock…" Judy whispered to herself. "Its not like Nick has died or something, so come on and be a good girl…!"

"Can I help you?" A voice suddenly came from behind her. Meeping and turning around, Judy recognized her partner's mother.  
She was a middle-aged vixen, whom Judy had to admit looked very good for her age. She herself never understood if this was a natural talent for some females or if they went trough some special training, but for someone who according to Nick was supposed to be in her late 40's, she looked at least ten years younger. She wore a simple dress with her hair done in a ponytail, had a rather good figure, and a set of familiar, green eyes that currently looked down at Judy for what seemed like an eternity.  
The female vulpine then tilted her head and smiled gently. The plastic bag in her paw made it apparent that she had returned from grocery shopping.

"H-hello ma'am, I'm Judy Hopps, Nick's partner," Judy said, extending her paw. Blinking and now looking at her with a sense of recognition, the vixen took her paw and shook it.

"Ah, I knew I had seen you somewhere before. It was too bad that we didn't have any time to talk at the graduation," the vulpine replied. She then let go of Judy's paw and opened the door to her apartment. "The name's Alice. Do come in, I'll make some coffee."

"Thank you, ma'am," Judy said and stepped inside.

The apartment itself wasn't that big, roughly one could say it had about three to four rooms. But, what it did have was a feeling of warmth and coziness to it, with the tapestries being of a warm shade of ocher with a burgundy flower-pattern, old school furniture (though, Judy did notice a few more modern things from the TV to the laptop resting on the coffee table), a brick fireplace and a faint smell of cinnamon that seemed to linger in the air.  
While Alice prepared some coffee in the kitchen, Judy walked up to the fireplace, on top of which she could see several framed photos that had caught her interest.  
The first one showed a much younger Mrs. Wilde in her teens wearing what could be described as punk-styled clothing, and next to her stood a male fox around the same age in a leather jacket and some jeans. Looking closer, Judy noticed that the male fox looked a great deal like Nick, except, his fur had a lighter tone and had brown eyes instead of emerald. They were both leaning against a motorbike, with the male having his hands wrapped around his girl's stomach and nuzzling her neck while she looked like she was in mid-laughter.  
The photo next to it showed the two on their wedding day, both dressed for the occasion and sharing a deep kiss.  
The next one showed the female vulpine looking a few years older and dressed as a waitress with a pregnant belly clearly showing. She was smiling proudly at whoever the photographer was as she served some customers in a diner.  
In the one next to it Judy saw Alice sitting in a chair and holding an infant Nick, who was sucking his thumb and to the bunny's admittance looked too adorable for words.  
But she did notice that as the images went on, Nicks father was nowhere to be seen in the photos. Her eyes stopped on the last photo on the far right, in which she could see Nick and his mother together. Nick looked like he was in his late teens, wearing graduation garbs which were messed up and torn up in places. He also had a clearly busted up nose and a badly hidden black eye. His mother stood next to him and tried to give her best smile.  
As Judy stared at said photo, she heard a soft cough and turned her head. Mrs. Wilde was already sitting on the couch with two cups of coffee and some biscuits.

"Oh, I apologize, didn't mean to snoop, just these photos…" Judy said, her ears blushing with embarrassment as she sat beside her. "Forgive me Mrs. Wi-"

"Please, just call me Alice dear," the vixen replied softly as she looked at Judy."And it's quite all right, I understand your curiosity."

Judy walked over, sat down next to Alice and took her cup. Staring down at it in silence, she then looked at Alice as she tried to think of the right words to say. She bit her lower lip and finally spoke.

"I'm sorry Mrs.- I mean Alice," she said with her ears going down as she put the cup back on the table. "I'm sorry for what has happened."

The vixen looked at her a tad surprised, but then gave the bunny a gentle smile as she patted Judy on the head.

"Dear, there's no need to apologize. I can tell you care deeply for my son and will do your utmost to prove that he is innocent," she whispered, as she then looked at her coffee cup. "Besides, I've grown kind of used to seeing him ending up in a jail cell, just like his father."

"His father? What happened to him?" Judy asked as she couldn't recall Nick ever mentioning his father to her.

Letting out a soft sigh, Alice crossed her fingers together and stared ahead of herself in silence, clearly trying to gather all her thoughts properly. A faint smile then began to manifest itself in her face.

"His father always wanted the best for me. Even when I didn't ask for anything, he'd go out of his way to provide for me," she said and gave off a nostalgic chuckle. "When he found out that he was gonna be a father, he went to the most extreme lengths to make sure that our child would have it all."

As she said that, her smile began to fade away and she closed her eyes.

"But it was hard for him to find a proper job. We had just finished college, and getting a good job for a fox wasn't exactly easy back then. Most big companies wouldn't accept John because of his species," she murmured then sighed again, placing a sugar cube in her coffee and stirring it with a spoon. "So he had no other choice but turn to petty thievery. I knew this wasn't the right way, but I also understood why he did it. However, he wasn't very good when it came to picking his targets. After getting caught several times, he turned to gambling and began to drink… That was my last straw. When Nick was around five I filed for divorce… Since then, I haven't seen or heard from him."

Alice paused and took a careful sip from her cup.  
Judy nodded slowly. This certainly explained why Nick didn't talk much about his father. Not being in contact with him since such a young age had probably not given him much to talk about.  
As Alice lowered her cup she began to talk again.

"You probably know about Nicholas and the boy scouts."

This made Judy's ears spring up. Noticing her reaction, Alice nodded.

"He didn't tell me about it himself, I found it out on my own when one of those children's parents called me. Apparently, the kid's father was a policeman, and the muzzle was something the kid had taken from his police belt. He told me he was sorry and even made his kid apologize to Nick, but… Nick had taken it much harder than you'd imagine." The middle-aged vixen shook her head and then looked at the sad-looking rabbit next to her.

"I doubt Nick will ever admit it, but he thinks very highly of you, Judy," Alice said, taking Judy's paw. "You gave him something back that I couldn't. You gave him a reason to trust people again, and for that, I am very grateful."

Judy felt her cheeks starting to heat up, and her eyes began to glimmer with determination. She took Alice's paw and gave it a squeeze, their eyes meeting, and with that, they both understood that neither would back down in this. Not now, not ever. Not much more needed to be said.  
Well, except…

"You want to see Nick's baby-pictures?"

Alexis apartment was drenched in darkness as the ocelot busied herself at pummeling her punching bag, wearing just her jeans and a sports bra, as her phone blared Russian melodies in full volume on her nightstand.  
Breathing heavily, the feline stopped for a few seconds to wipe some sweat from her brow, feeling a throbbing pain in her side.  
Sleeping had been a no-go after fixing her nightly preparations, so she had instead spent the remaining hours exercising. Her wounds had started to ache profusely, so most of her regular training schedule had to be put on hold until she got better, or she might just make things worse for herself. Her arms were in a better condition than most of her body, so she had focused most of her training on them.  
Taking a bottle of painkillers from her drawer and popping a few in her mouth, she then went back to the boxing bag. Injuries or not she wasn't about to get lazy.  
She hadn't gotten any calls or messages from Wooly yet (especially after she had given him an earful about the whole godmother part and what she'd like to do with his cosplaying ass), so things seemed like they were going according to plan.

Unleashing a few more punches she then heard her doorbell ringing, raising an eyebrow and looking at her clock. She then remembered; she had scheduled a meeting with her neighbor last night.  
Wiping some of the sweat off her face with a towel and putting on a shirt she then approached the door. Alexis then stopped midway as she passed her mirror. Looking at her reflection, she put on her best "happy face" and then went to open the door.

Chris was on the other side of it, wearing his trademark nervous expression.

"H-H-Hey… So, um, h-here I am… You look-" Chris said, with his ears pinning against his scalp as he got a good look at her face. Besides a visible black eye, the ocelot's eyes looked reddened by sleep deprivation. "… Tired. Jeez, rough night huh?"

"Mmmmm…I've been занета (busy) and sleep wasn't on the agenda," Alexis replied, internally cursing herself for forgetting to cover her eye up with something. "So, shall we go?"

Looking a bit uncertain at first, Chris then nodded and led her to his apartment. Before stepping in, she could see Chris full name written over the letterbox. Christopher Mau it read, which struck her as a pretty exotic last name.

Walking into the caracal's apartment, the ocelot was surprised by how different this place was from hers. Having pretty much the same outlay as her own apartment, it looked a lot more colorful, with most of the furniture wearing bright shades of autumn colors. His living room was decorated in a more interesting choice of decor, with several bookcases filled with what seemed like movies, games, books, and even anime, as well as several movie posters decorating the walls. He also had a flat screen television with three types of consoles placed within the shelves of the TV-table and several games stacked next to them.  
All of this looked very foreign to Alexis, who generally hadn't seen that many movies while growing up, and had to her memory never even touched a video game before. To see someone her age that would invest in such child's play was a bit surreal to her.

"Hehe, sorry about the mess, I didn't have the time to clean it up properly," he muttered bashfully and rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, you want anything to eat or drink?"

"Some соку (juice) if you have any," Alexis responded as she stepped into the living room and carefully studied it.  
Chris nodded and headed for the kitchen.

Approaching one of the bookcases, Alexis could see a selection of framed photos. One of them showed her neighbor along with three others of his kind, smiling at the camera with a pair of pyramids visible in the far background. Alexis guessed that the two older ones were his parents and that the third one, which was a younger-looking female, was a sibling.

Rubbing her chin, Alexis suddenly felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She quickly spun around and grabbed the figure's hand and twisted it out. But then she saw that it was Chris who let out a pained yelp as he held a plate of chocolate chip cookies in his other hand and was trying not to drop them.

"Sa-Sally! It's me! It's me! Yow that hurts," he cried out as Alexis loosened up her grip. "Jeez… I'm sorry if I startled you or something."

"Oh, my apologies Christopher," Alexis muttered apologetically. "I didn't mean to harm you, just… Please refrain from touching me."

Christopher blinked, looking confused by that statement. He then coughed and looked away, trying to think what to say or do next. Truth to be told, he had never had any girl in this flat before. He had plenty of male friends who would drop by every once in a while, but never a female (the exception being his sister, who would pay him a visit any time she was in the neighborhood). So, this was a whole new situation for him.

Alexis eyes went down to the plate of cookies that the caracal had brought.

"Why did you bring cookies?"

"Didn't you ask for a cookie?" Chris asked.

Alexis got a dumbfounded look, and then she slapped her forehead and gave off a sigh.

"Oh… No, I asked for соку; it means juice. Sorry if I confused you, I sometimes use Russian words without realizing it."

"Oh," Chris replied. "Well, unfortunately, I don't have any juice. Would it be okay with milk?"

"Sure, milk and cookies sound good," Alexis said with a smile and took one of the cookies off the plate. She usually didn't like sweets, but she figured that she could take a little nibble of it in order to be polite.

"So… Where did you learn that trick? It looked a real Bruce Lee kind of move." Chris then said, making the ocelot look at him with a rather puzzled expression.

"Bruce who?"

Chris blinked at this.

"Bruce Lee. You know, Way of the Dragon, Fist of Fury… " He said, but failed to get a single sign of recognition from Alexis face. "… The Green Hornet?"

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about," Alexis muttered. "Your parents?" She asked and looked at the photo from before, hoping to change the subject.

"Hm… Yeah, my folks and older sis," Chris said, as he rubbed his hand and smiled. "What about you? Got any siblings?"

"Not really, I was an only ребёнок (child)," Alexis said and shrugged casually. "That means child by the way. My father raised me by himself… He's dead now."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Chris said. An awkward silence manifested itself. Clearing his throat, the caracal pointed towards the kitchen. "Look I'll… Get you some milk."

Alexis nodded and watched him go. She then went over to the couch and sat down. Taking a bite out of the cookie, which was actually pretty good, she noticed something peeking out between the cushions next to her. Letting her curiosity get the better of her, she placed the half-eaten cookie on the table and pulled up the mysterious object to see what it was.  
It looked like a toy gun made out of gray and white plastic with a wire coming out of the bottom of the grip. Inspecting it closer, she could see that its side had "Nintendo" written on it with small, red letters. She shifted it and held it in her paw, holding it ahead of herself like she usually did when on the job. It felt strange, given that it was far lighter than any actual gun.

"So, you've never seen any movie with Bruce Lee?" She suddenly heard as Chris came back with a glass of milk in his paw. "What about…" He stopped as he saw the ocelot holding the little gun. Smiling at this, he came and sat dawn next to her (though at a careful distance) and offered her the milk. "I see you've found the Zapper."

"Zapper? It's remote?" Alexis asked before putting down the fake pistol down and accepting the glass.

"Well, yes and no; its a peripheral. It's used for better immersion for rail-shooter games like Duck Hunt and Wild Gunman. Ever played any of those?" He asked, getting a negative shake from the ocelot's head in response. "Played any games in general?" Alexis shook her head again. "No games huh… No offense, but what did you do to make time pass when you were a kid?"

"Nothing special, mostly I just read books," Alexis said and took a sip from the glass. "I served in the military later on."

"You served in the military?" The caracal asked. "You don't seem like the type. I mean you're very fit, but you seem so… Peaceful."

"It wasn't anything special. Mostly office work really," Alexis lied, then tilted her head as she saw Chris leaning forward as he began to dig trough a collection of games underneath the couch table.

Grabbing one of the cartridges, and he then looked back at Alexis.

"Well, since you never had an experience with games," he said, putting the game in an old-looking console and sitting down again. He then took up the zapper from the table and offered it to Alexis. "How about you give a shot with your first game? I promise to go easy on you."

Looking at the controller in his hand, Alexis looked up at the caracal again. He was giving her a sweet smile, which was a nice change from his usual, nervous state.  
Slowly extending her paw, she took the controller and looked at the TV.

Three hours later, Judy stood before Nick's apartment, which now had police tape all over it. After having asked every person in the building if they had seen anything and hearing nothing of interest, she was now placing her hopes on finding any traces that the crime technicians might have missed.  
Narrowing her eyes, the bunny sneaked trough the tape and stepped inside. Looking around Nick's apartment, Judy's first deduction was that it was indeed very Nick-esque, evident in the way the arrangement of the secondhand furniture gave the place a unique sense of non-expensive charm. Spotting a photo of him and Judy herself on the dresser, the bunny cop couldn't help but feel touched.  
But there was no time to think about that now. Putting on a pair of forensic gloves, she began looking around the crime scene, rubbing her chin and trying to find anything that was out of place. At first, the bunny sniffed the air several times, but that ended in a sudden coughing fit. The room was practically drenched in whatever cheap cologne Nick wore on daily basis, making Judy wonder how her nose didn't burst into flames whenever she inhaled this damn thing. Coughing a few more times and wiping tears from her eyes, Judy then whipped out a magnifying glass and began to crawl around as she carefully studied every nook and cranny for a clue. After about fifteen minutes, Judy slumped on the floor and groaned.

"NOTHING!" She exclaimed, slamming her head several times against the floor in frustration. "No paw prints! No fingerprints! Not even a strand of hair! NOTHING! GAAH!"

Lifting her head to slam it again, here eye finally caught something under the sofa.  
Something small and barely visible was shimmering in the darkness beneath it and was lodged in a gap in the floor.  
Crawling on all fours towards it, Judy reached in and managed to pull it out of the gap by using one of her small, dull claws like a hook. Taking it and studying it up close, she saw that it was a golden ring. Judging by the weight it wasn't real gold, and looking inside of it with the magnifying glass, she found what she was looking for: a set of initials that simply spelled "DW".  
Judy's brow knitted. Her instinct might be jumping to conclusions, but Judy felt she knew whom this ring belonged to. Getting up, she placed the ring in an evidence bag and stepped outside.

"Why is it that you and Nick always get into these situations?" Finnick asked as he looked at Judy. "I mean sure, he and I got into some problems of our own, but that was just small stuff compared to this."

"Finn, if I want a snarky state of the obvious, I call Nick," Judy huffed as she leaned against the ice-cream truck. Shrugging, the fennec turned back to serve another one of his customers.

After stopping at her place to change into a pair of casual jeans and a black t-shirt and making a quick phone call to her parents (reassuring them that nothing life-threatening had transpired in the last few hours) Judy had set out to find Finnick's truck. Once she had found it she quickly explained the situation with Nick, her mysterious attacker and her urgent need of finding Duke Weaselton to him.  
As the customer left, Finnick looked at Judy again, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Even after becoming a cop, that kid still needs me to bail his butt out," Finnick muttered and pulled out a pack of smokes. "Fine, I'll help ya Fluffer. But don't be telling Nick any of this! I'd hate to think of what that idiot might do if he thinks I care about his well-being."

Judy gave the fennec her widest possible smile as he closed the window and moved over to the driver's seat.  
Judy walked around and hurried over to the passenger's seat, getting in and sitting down next to him. As she did, she noticed that the fennec still hadn't customized the truck's interior and still needed to sit on numerous coffee table books in order to reach the wheel.

Placing a smoke in his mouth and lighting it with the cigarette lighter, the fennec started the truck with a roar and steered out into the road. Slipping his shades on, he then rolled down the car window and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"So, you want to find Weaselton? That might be hard, the sneaky bastard switches his address twenty-four-seven," Finnick said, making Judy's ears drop. "But I know of a guy who can help us out~"

Judy's ears quickly perked up from this, then twitched as a childish melody of what sounded Pop goes the weasel started to play on the outside of the truck. Finnick cursed and started to bang on the panel of his car-radio, which made song cease with a crackling sound.

"That goddamn jingle starts playing nearly every time I drive. I've tried to have it fixed, but like a bad habit it always comes back in the most inopportune times!"

The drive itself didn't take too long and they were soon in the tropical zone, arriving and parking outside of what seemed to be an Irish pub. As they got out of the truck, Judy turned to the fennec with a question.

"Is this where the guy is?"

"Yeah. His name is O'Neill, and besides owning this joint, he owes me a favor. Well, more like he owes me fifty bucks, so instead of collecting said fifty, I'm gonna ask where Duke is."

"Why would he know where Duke is?"

"This place is the main waterhole of every lowlife, both high and low, from all corners of Zootopia. If anybody knows where that weasel is at, it's him."

Giving a nod, Judy then followed Finnick into the establishment.

The place looked like your everyday pub, save for a loud punk melody blaring from the band that was playing on a stage that was surrounded by a netted fence. It was clear that the singer didn't have much of a voice but still tried his best, singing the lyrics loud and off-key.  
As Judy and Finnick entered, all the patrons instantly looked in their direction, some of them muttering something unintelligible to each other. Finnick didn't pay them much attention as he and bunny strolled trough the pub and headed to the back, where they could see a door that said "Private" on it. Suddenly, a large warthog got up from a chair nearby and stood between them and the door.

"Oi, where do ya think yer going?" The warthog asked while narrowing his eyes.

"Sir, my friend and I are doing an investi-" Before Judy could finish, the warthog glared at her and growled.

"I don't believe I asked ya a goddamn thing girly," he said and then looked at Finnick. "Now, how about you take your kid and sod off!"

Hearing that, Finnick left eye began to twitch.

"What did you just call me?" He asked with an even deeper growl than the warthog, his eyes narrowing into slits and his little paws clenching into fists.

"I said you should piss off you little brat and get back to nursery school," the warthog said, which led to some laughter among the patrons.

Then, before Judy could say anything, Finnick moved forward with a quick motion and delivered a swift kick to the space between the warthog's legs, which made Judy cover her mouth in surprise.  
The warthog went down, gritting his teeth and emitting a high-pitched noise.  
As that happened, Finnick turned around and bared his teeth at the stunned patrons.

"ANYONE ELSE WANNA CALL ME A KID?!" He yelled out, prompting the patrons to go back to their drinks or simply look away. Finnick huffed, kicked the out-of-commissioned bouncer in his side and muttered: "Didn't think so…"  
After that, he pushed the door open and gestured for Judy to follow him.

Inside the room, the bunny saw what looked like a small-time casino, with three round card tables, two roulette's and six slot machines. There were roughly four people inside, six if one counted the two croupiers behind the roulette tables.  
But Finnick's eyes were focused on one of the poker tables, where a gray-furred husky sat, wearing a black vest with a t-shirt under it as he was staring down at the cards in his paws.

"Oi! O'Neill!" Finnick yelled out, as the husky looked up and nearly dropped his cards.

"Oh fuck me in the arse…." O'Neill said and flashed an innocent smile. "Hey, Finn! Me mate! I was just about to pay ya visit about that cash and…"

"Save it…" Finnick muttered as he and Judy approached the table. "I didn't come for the cash, I came here for some info."

"Info? What sort of info, Finn me ol'friend?" O'Neill asked, clearly calming down and looking back at his cards.

"We're looking for Weaselton," Judy said, and the husky looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Weaselton? What would ya want with that piece of shite luv?"

"Personal reasons. Do you know where he is?"

"Weeeellll, maybe I do, maybe I don't… Question is, what's in it for me if I do luv?" He asked with a crooked smile, wrapping his paw around Judy's shoulder, which in turn motivated her to grab his thumb and twist it, making the husky cry out and drop his cards. "GAH! The fuck is yer problem!"

"Please refrain from touching a police officer~" Judy said and applied more pressure on the thumb. At the mention of the word police, the people around the table quickly put down their cards, grabbed their marks and left.

"Yer a fucking cop?! I knew you looked fucking familiar ya fuckin' fuzz!" O'Neill yelled and dropped his face on the table. "Mhhp…! F-fucking hell! HOGGINS!"

"If you're referring to the warthog at the door, he's busy doing a bit of soprano," Finnick said, clearly enjoying the sight of the big husky being forced into submission by the much smaller rabbit. "Now, if you wanna keep that thumb, I recommend you give us an address."

Cursing under his breath, O'Neill hissed out the address and Judy released his thumb.

"Thank you for your cooperation, sir~" She said sweetly and patted O'Neill's cheek before she and Finnick began to leave.

"Oi, Finn! We're square about those 50 bucks, right? Right!?" O'Neill yelled while Finnick ignored him.

Following the address, Judy and Finnick soon found themselves staring at what could be described as a complete dump of a two-story house. The lawn had clearly not been cut for ages and looked more like a jungle, some of the windows were boarded up and the brick walls were covered in old graffiti. The mailbox was stuffed with various pamphlets, bills, and letters. Studying some of the letters contents, Finnick rubbed his chin and looked at Judy.

"I don't know about this place. Anybody living here would have to be crazy or desperate," he muttered.

"Well, let's assume that Weaselton is the latter… Unless your friend lied to us." Judy said as they approached the door.

"If he did, so help me I'll break his kneecaps," the fennec replied and knocked on the door a few times.

Nothing happened at first until Judy's ears picked up what sounded like footsteps on the other side of the door.

"Who is it?" A voice asked, which Judy immediately recognized for being Duke's. Before she could say a word, Finnick shushed her and cleared his throat.

"Mr. Weaselton? We're from the lottery department and wanted to congratulate you for winning our golden package price and a check for ten thousand dollars!" Finnick said with much lighter and enthusiastic voice.  
Judy stared at the fennec in disbelief. Who would be so stupid that he would fall for such a cheap trick?

"Oh?! Well finally, took ya guys long enough!" Duke said. This was followed by the clicks of several locks being unlocked while Finnick winked at Judy.

Just as the door began to open up, they saw the weasel in the crack. Duke's eyes widened with surprise, but before he could slam the door shut Finnick delivered a good kick and the door flung inward, making the weasel jump back. He tried to run away, but before he could, Judy had caught up with him and delivered a slide kick to his legs, which made him collapse. She then grabbed him with a textbook police-grip and began to twist his arm.  
Weaselton gave off a pained yelp as he struggled and tried to break free from Judy while Finnick knelt down in front of Duke and held his head up by his right ear.  
Judy looked around, seeing that the interior was pretty much as messy as the outside.

"Now you listen to me Weaselton," Finnick growled. "You've done some really rotten stuff, but doing this to Nick really takes the bloody ca-"

"Hey! What are you doing to our big brother?!" A scared voice called out as both Judy and Finnick turned their heads to a flight of stairs nearby.

There they saw two young weasels, a boy and a girl that was probably around the ages of twelve or eleven, both of them wearing clothes that seemed way too big for them and staring at them in complete horror.  
Duke meanwhile grunted as he tried to ignore the pain in his arm and ear as he looked up at the two kids and smiled.

"Hey, hey. It's all good ya little scamps, just me and some old buddies of mine fooling around, right?" He asked, looking at Judy with a pair of eyes that asked her to play along.

Judy nodded and released her grip of Weaselton and stood up. Finnick backed away as well, albeit more reluctantly.  
Just then, the weasel girl gasped as she tugged her brother's shoulder and pointed at Judy.

"B-Bro! She's that bunny-cop! Ya know that hero cop!" The little weasel said, as her young brother's eyes widened and he let out an excited squeal.  
"Quick! Get the autograph book! The others are gonna die once they see it!"

As they raced up the stairs, Judy looked at Duke as he got up and rubbed his aching wrist. The two kids returned in a matter of seconds with eager smiles. The girl was holding a small book and pen.  
Accepting the pen and the book with a soft smile, Judy flipped to a blank page. She had gotten pretty used to signing autographs by now ever since the Night-Howler case.

"Sooo to whom should I write this?" She asked.

"The Weaselton family," the two said in unison. "Lucy, Jake, Lily, Franky, Corey, Doris, Mike, Tim, Evangeline aaand Duke!"

Hearing so many names made Judy look surprised, but she then scribbled them all down in the book while Finnick kept a careful eye on Duke, as if to make sure that the weasel didn't have any fancy ideas of escaping. As Judy returned the book to the younger weasels, Duke flashed a sweet smile at his younger siblings and spoke with a tone that sounded a lot more affectionate than Judy was used to hearing from him.

"There, you got what you wanted, so go on back up now ya little scamps! The pizzas should arrive soon, 'kay?" He said, getting a nod from them as they raced back up the stairs. Sighing, he then looked at Judy and Finnick. "C'mon, let's head to the kitchen…."

The kitchen wasn't in any better state than the rest of the house, with a dirty sink filled with dishes, more boarded up windows, a fridge that looked like it was from the last century, cupboards which seemed to be stuffed with canned food and finally a long table with several chairs that looked like they were about to fall apart.

"You two want anything to drink?" Duke muttered and opened the fridge.

"Got any beer?" Finnick asked, as he got comfy in one of the chairs, which were of a fitting size for him.

"Just water for me, please," Judy murmured. "So… Mmm… Duke…"

The weasel didn't say anything as he placed a beer can and a glass of water on the table and then sat down, staring at them both from the other side of the table.  
Finnick quickly opened the bottle and began to chug its contents, while Judy stared at her glass, then back at the weasel.

"Sooo… Those are your siblings?" She asked in an attempt to break the ice.

"Yeah… They have a bit of a cold, so they're home sick today. Four of them is at school, two are at their internships and the last one is at violin practice." Duke murmured, tapping his fingers together and giving Judy a little smile.

"Where are your parents?" Judy asked. Duke scoffed and looked away.

"Our ma's been dead for six years, and I've never met my old man. She was very social but had an awful luck with men you see; One dead, two deadbeats and one or two who just came and went…" He muttered and gave and looked a bit embittered. "Look, I know why you came here Flopsy…"

"Good, then it will at least save me some time," Judy said and tossed the evidence bag with the ring on the table. "Now, would you like to start explaining?"

Duke sneered at the sight of the ring and scratched his neck.  
"Tch… It was nothing personal against you or Nick. I mean, yeah, you guys screwed me over twice, but it's not like I plotted a revenge scheme or somethin'. Ah just don't have the time or money for something like that," the weasel muttered as he tapped his fingers on the table. "I… I just got in contact with someone who wanted me to deliver this bag to Nick's place. The price was too right to pass up, so I took the job without question."

"So what, you gladly accepted a job to frame a good cop?" Finnick said, glaring at Duke. "Knew you were greedy, but this is rotten even for you."

"Oi, I didn't do this because I wanted too," Duke growled in response. "If you haven't noticed, I have a family to watch over. One of them needs braces, the lungs ain't right in the other, and their overall education takes more than three-thirds of what I make in a month!"

"Then how about getting an honest job?" Finnick shot back with an ever-growing edge in his voice. "Or what, you think you're too good for that shit?!"

"You don't think I tried?!" Duke said and slammed his fist into the table. "I've tried! I've tried so many times I must've broken some kind of record! You know what weasels are commonly seen as?! Thieves and backstabbers! Mix that with the fact that I never had a chance for a higher learning! People don't exactly get in line to hire someone like me!" Duke hissed and then slumped back in his chair. Breathing heavily through his nose, he then pointed at Judy. "Just because you and Nick made it, don't think for a second that everyone gets a happy ending… But see, I don't care what happens to me. Just as long as them kids will make it."

Judy blinked and felt a sting of pity for the weasel that she had internally referred to as trash on multiple occasions. But, thinking of Nick and his mother, her eyes hardened.

"Being that as it is, that doesn't give you the right to let others suffer for your misfortunes," she said. "Nick's life is going to be ruined if you sit here and do nothing."

Duke avoided her look, her words reaching out to him in the worst possible way.  
Finnick had meanwhile begun to simmer down, and he grabbed the beer can and finished it fully.

"So who gave you the stuff?" He asked, raising his eyebrow. "Could you at least describe him?"

"Well, he was raccoon, kind of fat, medium height, wore a coat, drank quite a lot from a flask… Mmm, can't quite recall the name…Richard…Riener…?"

"Richter?" Judy asked. The weasel nodded in response, making the bunny's eyes narrow, with a faint growl escaping from her mouth. "Richter…! That low son of a… Duke, you need to testify about this."

Duke looked up with a wide pair of eyes, his face fixed with terror.

"W-W-What? Are you nuts?! I can't do that!" Duke stammered as he began to pull away from the table. "I'll be arrested, or worse, ASSASSINATED! M-my family…!"

Judy got up, hurried up to the fearful weasel and grabbed his hand.

"We'll protect you and make sure they are protected, and I'll even make sure you aren't arrested for this," Judy said, looking pleadingly at Duke. "Please… I know what it's like to be an older sibling and how it's not always easy, but I beg of you, we need you in order to clear Nick's name."

Looking at the bunny with an uncertain look, the weasel then groaned.

"… Dammit, fine." He said, but then pointed at Judy with a strict finger. "But, if anything happens to me, you'll have to make sure that they will get a good life."

"I promise you…" Judy assured him and him another smile. Just then her phone indicated an incoming call.  
"Excuse me…" She said and left the kitchen. Looking at her phone, she could see that the call was from Honey. Not wasting any time she quickly answered it.

"Hey Honey, what you got for me?"

"Well, two things: I'm close to restoring the footage and I managed to dig up some info on this Saint of yours. Listen, I don't like talking about this on the phone, so how about we meet in a small café, I'll drop you the address via a text message."

"Sounds good too me. And don't worry, I got some good stuff on my end as well~"  
-ntroller and then looked at the TV.


	10. Chapter 10: Heart to Heart

_Authors note:_ _Hey everyone! SO we are back with another chapter (the 11th on the way), reason it took a while is well my editor after has a life of his own and didn't really wanna pester the guy too much and let him do stuff at his own pace. Never the less, we are back and hope this is just as good and enjoyable for everyone!_

Chapter 10: Heart to Heart

Approaching the café, which was befittingly named Cafe Not Late, Judy looked around and tried to spot Honey outside.

She had asked Finnick to stay out in the car and keep a lookout in case anyone suspicious appeared. Not seeing the badger, Judy tried her luck and stepped inside with as the soft ring of a bell announced her entrance.

The café had a pleasant scent of freshly baked goods that was coupled with a powerful aroma of freshly brewed coffee. The interior decorations matched this with its creamy brown furniture; a tiled floor with yellow-grey patterns and several white lamps hanging from the roof that covered the whole place in a warm and inviting glow.  
The patrons were chiefly composed of people between ages twenty and thirty who were all either busy chatting with each other or burying themselves in their phones or laptops.

Spotting the familiar honey badger sitting on a couch in the corner of the room, Judy hurried over to her. Instead of her usual lab coat, Honey was wearing a leather jacket, a pair of torn up jeans, another t-shirt that spoke of sheep driven conspiracies and (oddly enough) her trademark lab goggles on top of her head. She was currently staring down at a half eaten piece of lemon cake that she absent-mindedly prodded with her fork, looking very melancholic for some reason.  
As Judy announced her presence with a cough, Honey broke away from her trance and gave the bunny a smile… This to Judy felt artificial.

"Hey Jude, took ya long enough. Grab a seat~" She said.  
Judy sat down while the forensic scientist produced a stack of files and placed them on the table "This is the info I got on this so-called saint of yours."

Judy opened up one of the files and began to look trough while Honey kept talking.

"Seems like the bitch is quite a traveler. Considering how many places her name pops up in relation to incidents across the globe, you'd think she'd have a crime spree around the world in 80 days or something," she murmured, grabbing the file from Judy and flipping over to the last two pages. "Her last known job was in France."

The more Judy read the report, the colder she felt. Its contents were largely made up of newspaper clippings that spoke of a multitude of victims:

One was about a son of a judge in Poland whose testimony was about to imprison a major crime boss for life.  
He had been duct-taped to a seat inside his own car and burned alive.

Another one was the owner of a Chinese computer company.  
He had been shot in the face by a sniper bullet during his daughter's birthday party.

A third one was a young musical artist of Afghanistan background, who after promoting female empowerment in her home country had been found dead in her bathroom.  
Post-mortem analysis, however, had shown evidence that she had been force-fed with powerful sleeping pills and then drowned in her bathtub.

Biting her lower lip, Judy continued to flip back and forth between the pages while reading about all the other spots where "The Saint" had been linked by some form of evidence, finding that each case was more gruesome than the last.  
It was clear that Kozlov hadn't lied about this woman, but from the things that the bunny could read between the lines inside this file, she certainly wasn't untouchable or indestructible.  
Rubbing her chin, Judy began to think; a plan had started to take shape in her head.

She looked up at Honey, who was caught off guard by the bunny's suddenly determined expression.

"Listen, Honey, I've got someone who can not only get Nick out of the slammer but also put that prick Richter behind bars." Judy said, and started to explain the whole situation with Weaselton before handing the evidence bag with the initiated ring over to Honey, and then continued to tell her how the ill-mannered investigator was connected to all of this. "… And I think he was the one who leaked the info about the footage."

"You really think he's behind the whole thing?" Honey asked with a raised eyebrow. "He doesn't strike me as much of a mastermind…"

"I'm not a hundred percent sure. He could probably afford a hit man or two with his payroll, but the unclear thing is the motive… I mean he's a dick, but what would he gain from framing Nick?" Judy wondered as she placed her paws on the table. "Anyway, I'm gonna call our witness. You get in touch with Bogo and tell him about Richter. We also need a safe house with a surveillance van put on it. See I got this plan…"

Leaning across the table, Judy whispered the rough idea of her plan to Honey. As soon as she was done, the badger straightened up and gave her friend an odd look.

"Jude, are you sure that's gonna work?" Honey asked and sounded concerned. "I mean, you read the files… You know what we're dealing with here."

"That's why I think it will work. She doesn't seem like the kind to say no to a challenge, and once we have her, there'll be nothing to keep Nick in the slammer. Trust me, it's gonna work like charm." Judy said, grabbing the badger's hand and smiling.

Looking at her, Honey closed her eyes and sighed. There was something fundamentally un-resistible about the bunny's expression, which radiated with confidence and the will to serve some justice. She could understand why Nick (who on the other paw could probably pose as a textbook example of a cynic) held such great affection for his partner.

"Very well then… Either way, I think Nick's freedom is guaranteed. The footage is almost completely restored; I'll send it to you by phone once it is done."

After that, Judy gave the badger a hug (getting nearly squeezed to death again when Honey hugged back) and left the café.  
Honey stayed behind and finished her lemon cake, now in a considerably better mood than before.

As Judy went back to Finnick's truck, the fennec started it, banged at the dashboard to shut off the annoying jingle and glanced at the bunny with an inquiring look.

"So, how did it go?"

"Wonderfully. With all the things we have, Nick is going to get out and Richter is going to take his place," she said and ended her sentence with an ill-hidden tone of satisfaction.  
Finnick nodded at this with a little smirk.

"That's good to know. Now where would you like to go next?"

"Could you drive me to the Anthill-hotel? That's where my parents are staying."

"Sure thing," Finnick replied and turned the wheel. "By the way, that badger-girl you we're talking with…"

"Yeah?" Judy said and looked at the fennec, who stared back at her with a strange look. Then he waved with his paw in a dismissing manner.

"Forget it, I just had a feeling I'd seen her somewhere before. She's not bad-looking though. I like girls who have a little cushion for the pushing if you know what I mean."

"Uh-huh…" Judy said, briefly wondering why Finnick would share that kind of unwarranted information with her.  
As Finnick slowed down for the sake of a red light, Judy looked back at him. "Can I ask you something Finnick?"

"Shoot."

"Whenever I have Nick with me, you act all… Keen on me. But when he's not around, you don't. Why is that?"

Finnick gave the bunny an unsure look before sighing.

"Don't take this the wrong way fluff, but I mostly do it to annoy Nick. Not that you're not a pretty girl, I mean if the offer was on the table I'd go for your fine behind in a second."  
This made Judy's eyes widen as she saw Finnick's expression, deducing he was completely and utterly serious.

"Uh, thank you…?"

"You're welcome," Finnick replied. "But as things are, it wouldn't feel right. You're Nick's girl after all."

Judy at first looked confused, and then she gave off a little laugh and looked away.

"Heh, I am sorry Finn, but Nick and I are just friends… There's nothing between us."

"Nothing whatsoever?" The fennec asked with a voice that was heavy with skepticism.

"Well… No." Judy replied anxiously and avoided Finnick's look. This subject made her feel uncomfortable for some reason. "I mean, sure we get along really well, and he's not a bad looking guy…"

Judy's words trailed off. Tapping with his fingers on the wheel while waiting for the traffic light to shift from red to green, Finnick raised his eyebrows.

"Then what is it?"

"I… Well," Judy said, internally wishing that they could be talking about something else. "… I guess it's because it would complicate things. If we were to cross that line and get… non-professional, and it didn't work out, I… I am afraid we wouldn't be able to return. Besides, I hardly think he would be interested."

The fennec stared at the bunny. Not that it was any of his business, but for being such a good detective, this girl seemed to have a problem detecting things that were under her very nose.  
Meeting his look, Judy's eyes narrowed in annoyance, almost like she had read his mind.

"Look, Finn, this is a very personal matter. I'd rather not talk about it, okay?"

"Fine," Finnick simply said as the light turned green and he went back driving.  
Both he and Judy didn't say anything until they reached the hotel. Pulling over next to the sidewalk, Finnick turned towards Judy again with a pair of serious eyes.

"It may not be my business what you do, but take it from someone who knows: denying your feelings isn't fair for either of you. Remember that when it's time to deal with this firecracker of yours."

Looking at him for a few moments, Judy then went out of the truck, turned around and looked back at Finnick through the open door.

"Thank you, Finnick… For everything," she said.

"Don't worry about it," the fennec said and put back his sunglasses. "It's been fun."

The very next day, Richter was called to the chief's office. Strolling trough the ZPD and sporting the widest shit-eating grin possible, he couldn't help feeling a measure of pride of how smooth things seemed to transpire. Sure, getting blackmailed by an assassin had not been pleasant, but the payment he got in return wasn't a bad trade-off. All he had to do was to play his cards right by turning a few blind eyes, send some cops onto wild goose-chases and do some under-the-table meddling, and he would be able to walk out of this, literally richer by the experience. Sending an innocent cop to jail was of course, unfortunate. But, he was a fox after all, and it did make the most sense to have him be the patsy.

Just as he opened the door to Bogo's office, he was surprised to see that not only were the chief there but also Honey Barker and officers Hopps, Manning and Bouvier, all of them staring at the raccoon with a venomous gaze. Blinking and trying to play it cool, Richter flashed a questioning smile as he walked in.

"Well, well, don't you all look happy to see me? To what do I owe such a colorful gathering?"

"Officer Hopps and Honey here claim that you are behind the frame job of Officer Nicholas Wilde," Bogo said, his eyes narrowing dangerously as stared at Richter.

Adjusting his tie, the raccoon gave off what had been intended to be an amused chuckle, but sounded more like a case of the hiccups.

"Do they now? And what proof would they have of that, huh?" He asked.

"We have a witness in our custody, who's going to not only going to prove Nick's innocence but also tell his account on how you hired him to plant the evidence," the bunny said, which made the raccoon grit his teeth.

"Hmph, I've had enough of this bullshit. Bogo, next time you summon me, do it for something better than a stupid conspiracy theory," Richter said and moved towards the door, but was stopped as Manning and Bouvier went and blocked his path.

"I didn't finish Richter…. Because of this, you're gonna be held in custody for the time being." Bogo finished, making the raccoon's eyes widen into the size of saucer plates. "If they are wrong, you'll be released and allowed to continue your investigation. If not, well, I guess we could use a new investigator."

Richter directed a red-hot glare at both Judy and Honey, who each gave him a happy little wave as he was escorted out from the office.  
Exhaling, Bogo glanced at the two females.

"I hope you're right about this Hopps, or we'll be in even bigger trouble. So far we've been lucky that the press knows nothing about Nick's predicament… If they get a whiff of this we'll have a circus on our hands."

"I assure you chief, this is a sure fire thing," Judy replied. "Now that we have him, the saint won't know what to do, and as soon as she is caught, it won't take long before Nick is out and we'll be able to crack this case completely."

"All of that sounds great, but what worries me is this plan of yours…"

"I know it's a bit out there, but I've already taken care of my part. The only thing left now is recruiting the right people for it."

The buffalo's brow knitted, and he then pointed a strict finger at Judy.

"Okay, first of all, I'm the chief, don't take the initiative with things like this without an okay from me from now on, understand?" Judy's eyebrows went up at this, and she nodded. "Second, how do we know that she'll even take the bait?"

"We won't know until we try," Honey added. "Weaselton is gonna be in danger from now on. If he stands trial Nick will walk, and if there's more people in on this like we think, the assassin will have no choice but to make a move." This made Bogo nod in response.

"Very well then…. Let's hope this works." The tense situation was suddenly broken off as Judy could hear a signal coming from her phone. Picking it up, her ears stood up and she hurried out of the office.

"Excuse me; I have to go do something. I'll see you in the bullpen later!"

Nick stared at the opened package in front of him in disbelief. He had a good idea of what it was by the delicious smell he had felt as his visitors, which seemed to have increased in potency as it had been passed over to him through the food slot. Looking down and opening it, he had found a freshly baked blueberry pie.

He looked up at Stu, Bonnie, and Judy with an awestruck expression.  
"You made this for me?"

"Well, Judy made no secret of how much you love blueberries, and I figured you could use something to cheer you up," Bonnie said in a cheerful tone.

"It smells delicious! How did you make this? Ca- I mean Judy said you were staying at a hotel."

"A relative of ours has a bakery in Happy Town, so we just swung by and borrowed his oven," Stu explained.

"I… I don't know what to say," Nick said while wiping his eyes, trying to hide how touched he felt.

"You don't have to say anything, just eat up and tell them what you think," Judy said with a smile.

"Oh, I will!" Nick said excitedly. But then he frowned a little. "Uh… I don't have any spoon or anything."

"Oh right!" Stu said, and then leaned and whispered into his wife's ear. "Listen, honey, maybe you and Judy could go and ask that nice cheetah for one. I can stay here with Nick and… Keep him company."

Bonnie got a look of understanding and nodded. Wrapping her arm around Judy and then starting to drag her off.

"Come on Judy, let's go fetch a spoon!" She said cheerfully to her surprised daughter.

"Mom, we don't both need to go get a spoon!"

"Oh no, but I could use your help. This place is so big that I might get lost otherwise!" Nick could hear Bonnie say as they disappeared down the corridor.  
As soon as they were out of sight, Stu turned to look at Nick with a serious expression.

"Now that we're alone, there's something I want to talk to you about."

Nick looked at the middle-aged bunny with a half-lidded expression, the hot pie sending its warmth through the box and into the palms of his hands. For some reason, this only underlined the awkward feeling that now radiated the air between him and Stu.

"… It's about me and Judy isn't it?" He said, having expected this little conversation since Stu had mentioned it back at the train station.

"Yeah, I… Well, I didn't want to take it up with Judy around, cause I wouldn't want her to take it the wrong way. I don't want you to take it the wrong way either, so I'll just get straight to it with this question…" Stu scratched the back of his head and looked down, and the following question was mumbled out: "What exactly is your relationship with my daughter?"

Nick stared at Stu and sighed. It felt odd to have someone else but himself ask that question for once.

"… We're friends. Partners," he replied. Stu met his look with an unreadable expression.

"But not just, am I right?"

"What makes you think that?"

At this, Stu gave off a proud smile.

"I have many daughters Nick. All of whom I've raised and many of whom I've seen grow into fine women. Because of that, I have more or less become an expert in spotting when one of them has a crush, and I got to tell ya, my little Jude has one of those when it comes to you." Nick pursed his lips and nodded, which made Stu raise his eyebrows. "… You don't look surprised."

"I'm not," the fox replied and carefully placed the pie on the bed next to him. "In fact, I've known for a while. But you don't have to worry… It's not going to lead to anything."

"Okay, I did not expect that," Stu said with a stunned expression, before clearing his throat and continuing. "First of all, let's not get ahead of ourselves… I'm not saying I wouldn't approve of it just yet, I mean let's face it, I barely know anything about you besides the fact that you love blueberries, that you're Judy's partner, that she really likes you… And that the first you met you actually swindled her."

As he said this, Nick gritted his teeth and felt a bit embarrassed. Stu on the other pay no heed of this and went on.

"But let's focus on what you said, that it's not going to lead to anything… Why would you say that? Is it because you are two different species?"

"… Do you want me to be honest?" Nick asked, getting a nod from the rabbit. "I am very fond of Judy, in fact, she's become one of the most important people in my life. She's helped me in so many ways, and sometimes when I see her, it's like…!"

Nick didn't finish his sentence, struggling to find the right word. Instead, he waved his paws around his head in wild fashion. Strangely enough, Stu seemed to understand what he meant.

"M-hm, been there," he said.

"Yeah… The only problem is that I can't do anything about it. I'm not saying it's because I am a fox and she's a bunny, that's not the main issue," the fox said and leaned forward, his chin resting in the palm of his hand. "It's just… I am eight years her senior, and… I don't know if what I feel is anything romantic, or if it's just me feeling like a big brother or something… Judy may be sure what she wants, but I don't exactly know what I feel… I just think it would be unfair to get her hopes up."

"I see," Stu said and scratched his chin. "Hmm… You know, that actually reminds me of an old saying: 'Uncertainty doesn't last forever, clarity always shows up for us.' It basically means that it's okay to feel uncertain as long as it doesn't hurt anyone, because one of these days, something may very well happen that can show you the way."

"I don't know…" Nick mumbled.

"Just give it time son, you'll figure things out," Stu assured him. "On another note, if you and Jude do go 'there', just know that you have my blessing." Nick gave the rabbit a surprised look.

"That's pretty big-minded of you."

"Just because I come from the country doesn't mean I'm all kinds of intolerant," Stu said while adjusting the suspenders of his overall. Then his ears twitched, picking up the sound of his wife and daughter approaching. "How about we keep this between us, okay?"

"You got it pops," Nick replied with a faint smile.

Later, Bogo, Judy, and Honey was in the meeting room as Bogo addressed a large number of officers of their mission to protect the safe house, while Judy and Honey added a few pointers in regards to it.  
As the officers got everything that they needed to know and began to leave the meeting room, one of them stopped as he went around a corner, fished out his phone and began to write a text message at a furious speed.

Laughter escaped from the ocelot's mouth as she reclined on Christopher's couch. The reason for said exclamation of joy (uncharacteristic to her) was because the two were watching an action-horror flick called "From Dusk till Dawn", a rather dumb and bizarre movie that involved two escaped criminals and vampires of all things. Alexis couldn't help but to laugh at the cheesy lines and the exaggerated amounts of gore that happened anytime a character used a gun.

She looked at Chris, who was smiling at her.

"So you've never really seen such movies before?" he asked, and the ocelot shook her head.

"Нет (No), but I am thankful for showing me some of them" Alexis replied, then got a strange look as she noticed how the caracal stared at her. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just… I like it when you laugh."

"Oh?" The ocelot said in a surprised tone; she couldn't recall getting such an odd compliment before. "Uh," she began, having a bit of a hard time thinking up an appropriate response, "I like it when you… Stutter." The caracal arched an eyebrow at this.  
"Really?"

"No, I… Just didn't what to say really." Looking at Chris, Alexis couldn't help but to note the irony of the situation; this man seemed to have overcome his rather awkward ways, as no longer stuttered and now expressed a much more comfortable body language. She, on the other hand, had started to feel a little nervous. Idle conversations weren't one of her strong suits outside of work, so she found it increasingly difficult to keep a conversation going.  
She looked away and gave off a little cough. "Except it does feel good to laugh every once in a while…"

"You don't do it a lot then?"

"No… I guess I just have a hard time finding things to laugh about."

"That's a shame," Chris said and removed his glasses. As he took up a cloth from his pocket at began to clean them, Alexis looked at him again and was about to say something, only to freeze with her mouth open in a stunned expression. Putting them back on, the caracal noticed this. "What is it? Do I have something in my teeth?"

"Can I just check something?" The ocelot asked, and before she could get an answer she edged closer to Chris across the sofa. Getting close enough, she then grabbed the surprised caracal by the right side of his glasses. "Don't blink."

Alexis gently lifted the glasses, inspecting the caracal's face, which she deduced looked quite different without his glasses, which had apparently enlarged his light-green eyes and made him look a bit childish, like some kind of cartoon character. But without them, Alexis could see that those big grape-like eyes, were in fact thin and sharp. It made him look a lot more adult and actually quite (did she dare to think it?) handsome.

"You look very different without your glasses."

"I get that a lot, it's pretty common for those who are farsighted." He said and gave off a cheeky grin. "I guess that sort of makes me like Clark Kent."

Alexis blinked and asked,

"Who is that?"

"He's this comic-book character who is a powerful superhero called Superman, but he keeps this a secret when he works as a reporter. Nobody recognizes him then because he wears a pair of glasses in his civilian life."  
Alexis brow knitted.

"That doesn't make any sense. How come nobody recognizes him?"

"I don't know, but I think it's because people have a tendency of only wanting to see what they want to believe," Chris explained and grabbed Alexis wrist in order to lower his glasses. When he did this, the ocelot twitched and pulled her paw back with a scared expression. Chris jumped and instantly spoke in an apologetic tone. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I - I forgot that you don't like to be touched."

Looking at the caracal, who looked genuinely sorry, Alexis felt a sting of guilt. He had after allowed her to get close to him. Considering that, she felt kind of silly about being so sensitive about this.

"No, I'm sorry… Look, it's not because of you that I'm like this, it's just that I…"

Just then her cell phone beeped. Checking it out, she furrowed her eyebrows when she saw who was calling.

"Hrm…."

"Something wrong?" Chris asked and tilted his head.

"Something has come up at work," Alexis replied, as she looked at the caracal. "It seems like I'll have to our little свидание (date). I'm sorry, but my boss is a real asshole and doesn't like to wait."

Christopher got a bit of a disappointed look, but then smiled and nodded before walking her to the door.

"There's gonna be a… Hrm… game sale tomorrow," he said while his trademark stutter had started to resurface again. "And I was wondering if you'd like to tag along and m-maybe we can catch a movie after that…They are showing Dr. Strange." He said, his ears pressing to his scalp again while his cheeks began to heat up. "I-i-if you'll be… Mm… Free and wanna do it."

Alexis stopped and turned to give Chris a mischievous look.

"Do it? Isn't that more of a third date sort of thing?" She teased, which in turn made Chris's eyes widen into an embarrassed horror.

"No, I- that's not what I meant I-"

"I am just kidding. Silly kitty…" Alexis said, leaned over and gave his nose a little lick, which made the caracal stiffen in surprise. "But I am a little uncomfortable dating in public places… Maybe we could order some food and just hang out again?"

"That… That sounds delightful," Chris said with a little smile.

"See you next time," Alexis said, leaving the caracal's apartment. As she closed the door behind her, Chris placed his paw over his nose lovingly.

Stepping back inside her darkened flat, the ocelot rubbed her forehead a little and then shook her head. Nice things were going to have to wait, so she pulled up her phone and dialed Wooly's number as she strolled into the kitchen.

The dial tone only ringed twice before someone picked on the other end, and she immediately spoke into it with a venomous tone.

"This better be important you fluffy bastard."

"We have a problem…." Wooly's voice coldly replied while Alexis checked her fridge.

"А когда у тебя их нету? (When don't you have them?) What is it this time; someone stole your shampoo?"

"Richter is in the hot seat. Apparently, that chicken-shit hired an outsider to place the evidence in the fox's apartment instead of doing it himself. Now that weasel has fingered him and is gonna rat him out!"

"Hiring a weasel to do his dirty work, what a moron…! So what do you expect me to do about it?"

"We can't take any chances. If the weasel talks, Richter might break under pressure and could implicate us all! Plus, the boss won't be happy knowing that the fox is out of custody. We don't have any choice. The weasel must be eliminated."

Closing the fridge after taking out a cold can of cider, Alexis placed it against her head in order to ease a growing headache.

"Newsflash lamb chop: I am in no condition to chase any of them down!" Alexis growled into the phone. "I'm still sore from that venture at the police station, and both the cops and Mr Big's men are after me because of your bullshit! Why don't you just fix 'em yourselves?!"

"If they see rams, it won't take long before they figure out who's behind this. Besides, you're the only one skilled enough to get the job done and then get out alive again. If you do this, consider your payment doubled."

"Money is no good to me if I bite the dust!"

"That's a risk we're willing to take pred. Remember that you still have a job to do, and if you don't fulfill your end of the bargain, you should keep in mind that we won't keep ours and that we can make an anonymous call to that fucking shrew just like that!" Wooly hissed back at her in anger, which was followed a sharp sound that signified how the sheep had snapped his fingers. "Do we understand one another?"

"Purrrrfectly," the ocelot replied with boiling anger. "When you put it like that, how could I refuse? But then the price better be doubled, or else I swear I'm gonna find you, and then I'm going to use you as a scratching post before drowning you in lemon juice!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Wooly replied. "The weasel is named Duke Weaselton; a little creeper that has worked with us before. He's gonna be positioned in a safe house soon enough; I'll mail the address to you as soon I can."

"Understood… Wait a sec, what about my car?" Alexis asked, suddenly recalling how she had left it parked outside the police station. "Did any of you move it after I was kidnapped?"

"Relax, we've dealt with it. In fact, we have something special planned for it, but that's nothing you have to deal with. You just take care of the weasel, then you can relax till the final phase. Heck, feel free to go and fuck that caracal you've been seeing."

The last sentence made Alexis's heart stop. Squeezing her phone with a tight grip, she spoke into the phone with sweet but dangerous voice.

"So you know about that?"

"We always keep tabs on the people we work with, including their little… Indulges."

"He's an innocent, he has no idea of what I am or what I do, so there's no reason for you stick your big fat nose into any of that."

"Oh, is that so? Very well then, as long as it doesn't distract you from our main goal, you can do as you please… See you around," Wooly said and dialed off.

Letting out a frustrated groan, the ocelot opened the can of cider and took a few deep gulps before dialing another number. Waiting in silence, she then heard the phone on the other end being picked up.

"Hello, Химик (chemist), this is your favorite ocelot. I need to ask for something… Mmm… No, not any of those things. I need some firepower… Heh no, nothing that insane… Not today anyway. I also need a new car if you can provide that~"  
-


	11. Chapter 11: Bulletstorm

Chapter 11: Bulletstorm

Parking her new car, Alexis rolled down the window and saw a three-story house. The sun was just over the horizon, giving it a strangely romantic appearance as the golden rays flickered in the windows.

It was a neat little neighborhood that was obviously meant for people of the upper middle class, with some small shops and establishments situated here and there on both sides of the street and nothing as big and mainstream as a Z-mart or something.

Looking around, the ocelot spotted several parked cars, but fortunately enough, no people. One thing that caught her eye though was a lone truck that was standing not too far away from her.

I was your average, run of the mill white van with a logo plastered on the side of it, depicting a widely grinning cartoon-raccoon and a text of capital letters that spelled "Mr. Coonie's Cleaning Company".

Sneering at it, she whipped out her phone and dialed Wooly's number. Reclining back in her seat, she impatiently tapped the steering wheel, getting a response after just a few beeps.

"What is it?" She heard the sheep's annoyed voice.

"I am on location now овечка (sheep)," Alexis said while keeping an eye fixed at the van. "I see a vehicle that could very well be a surveillance truck, so I'm going to deal with them first. The only question I have before I begin is what I should do with the cops inside."

"Tch, frag them for all I care. The less witnesses the better. The important thing is that you get that weasel and don't get caught," Wooly replied.

"Don't worry овечка, I'm going to rock that house," the ocelot said before hanging up.

She then raised the collar of her coat, slipped on a set of dark shades and a black pair of leather gloves before stepping outside. Calmly strolling across the street to the lone van, she swiftly moved to the back of it as soon as she got close. Looking around to make sure nobody had spotted her, then knocked a few times on the door in the back. No response came, prompting the ocelot to knock again.

"Who is it?" A gruff voice asked inside, making Alexis lick her lips and reach down her coat in anticipation, before using her free paw to knock one more time.

Just then, the door opened and she stood face to face with a snow-white wolf. Alexis swiftly unsheathed the claws of her free paw and slashed the surprised wolf across his face.

The wolf instinctively grabbed his face, blood beginning to gush from four vertical cuts. He was then pushed back by an elbow tackle from Alexis, who then pulled out a grenade from her pocket, pulled out its safety pin with her teeth and then tossed the projectile into the van's interior.

Then, just as quickly, she leaped out of the van and slammed the open door shut, catching a fleeting glint of two other officers inside the van and their shocked expressions

With her back against the door, she heard a muffled explosion, quickly followed by screams and intense coughing fits that soon died out and left nothing but an uninterrupted silence after them.

Opening the door, she cautiously backed off while covering her nose, cause from the interior came a cloud of yellow gas that soon dissipated. As it did she could see that it had fulfilled its purpose: the three officers were unconscious.

Knockout-gas wasn't exactly her style; if she had been in a better condition she probably would've just blasted the three to kingdom come, but right now, going straight in with guns blazing wasn't an option. She needed to use her wit rather than her firepower to walk out of this alive.

Approaching the surveillance equipment, she pushed a sleeping deer aside and grabbed his earphones. Putting them on, she heard that someone was making a phone call at this very moment.

"Hello, this is Pizza Hub, can I take your order?" A perky female voice said as soon as the dialing signal ended.

"Yeah, I'd like to order an extra large family pizza with all the toppings… Except for anchovies," a male voice said on the other end.

"Sure sir, we'll have it over in 10 minutes or it's free," the girl from the pizza place replied in an ever-cheerful tone. "Now what's the address?"

Removing the headphones, Alexis rubbed her chin and smiled. It seemed like she had found her way inside. She then shut the surveillance equipment off, stepped outside and made her way back to her car. Popping the trunk open, she grabbed her two homemade sawn-off guns with the special ammo, filled her pockets with some extra shells and then grabbed a brand new SMG with a silencer, two extra clips and finally two flash bang grenades. Making sure everything was perfectly hidden and comfortably available to her on her person, she then closed the trunk and made her way over to a nearby alley.

About five minutes later, Alexis could hear the sound of a scooter approaching. Looking out from her hiding spot, she could see said scooter coming.

On it was a young looking zebra with a large Band-Aid on the side of his face. Alexis raised her eyebrows, for she recognized this particular pizza delivery boy. There was no doubt; he was one the jocks who had tried to beat her up the other day.

Internally cursing at this extraordinary coincidence, she started to quietly sneak up to where the teenager had just parked.

The zebra was about to take a pizza box off the rack of his scooter when he suddenly heard a voice coming from behind him.

"Hello again," Alexis said and the zebra turned around to look at her. The ocelot couldn't help but to smile a little as the kid's face got twisted into a horror-stricken grimace. "Small world huh?"

"Holy shit…!" The boy hissed and raised his hoofs in apprehension. "Look, lady, I - I didn't really want to do it, peer pressure you know, and it wasn't like…"

"Shut the fuck up," Alexis said, her smile gone as she pulled up one her shotguns and aimed it at the zebra's face. "If you want to live long enough to lose your virginity, you do exactly as I say."

"P-P-Please… I… I… I'll d-d-do anything…" The boy said in a low voice, his whole body starting to tremble.

"What a well-mannered young man," Alexis said with sarcasm and nodded at the boy's scooter. "You can start by bringing me one of those boxes if you'd be so kind~"

* * *

"There better not be any anchovies on it," Bouvier muttered. She, her partner Manning and three other officers were sitting in a room on the top floor. They had been there since yesterday, with little to no action coming out of it so far.

"Would stop going on about that?" Her partner asked while he sat on the opposite side of a dinner table, flipping through the pages of today's newspaper. "I expressly told them no anchovies, they should get that. Really, I don't see why you're getting your panties in a twist over some salty fish…"

"That's easy for you to say," the goat said and stuck her tongue out in a childish manner while rubbing her belly. "I don't like fish in general, and ever since I got this bun in my oven, the smell alone is enough to make me gag!"

Manning rolled his eyes at his partner's whining.

"I said no anchovies, so we shouldn't get any. If we do, I'll gladly kick the delivery boy's ass."

"You'll have to get in line then," Bouvier replied and crossed her arms. "… Do you think she'll show?"

The Doberman's eyes briefly moved up from the newspaper, before looking down again and flipping over to a new page.

"Based on what the chief said, she will probably try."

"… Should we be concerned? I mean we're on the top-floor. If she does show up, you don't think she'd make it all the way up here do you?"

"Tch, nobody can be that good Chel," the Doberman replied, his brow knitted. "Getting a little nervous are we?"

"Nah, just making idle conversation," Bouvier said and looked away.

Then the Doberman folded the paper and gave her a serious look.

"You shouldn't be here, especially in your condition."

"Hey, don't give me that," Bouvier said and gritted her teeth at the dog. "If I'm gonna have this baby, I'm gonna need to use any time that I still have before having to leave for maternity leave to the fullest."

Manning kept looking at her, his fierce look softening somewhat.

"… Have you heard anything more from him?"

Bouvier gave off a contemptuous snort.

"Not since I told him he was going to be a father. I'm not really expecting him to come back; love wasn't exactly the glue that kept us together in the first place."

"Still, what kind of a scumbag just ups and leaves the woman who's carrying his child?" Manning said, and like with most angry canines, the hint of a growl could be heard in his speech pattern. "If I ever get my hands on that prick I'll-"

"Save it, Dave," Bouvier said in a sharp tone, which made the Doberman go silent. "My parents have already said everything that can be said of this, including 'We told you so', so nothing more of that please!"

"Can't help it," Manning mumbled, his ears dropping a bit. "It's dog-thing, I get a little protective. I see somebody mistreatin' ya, I wanna go for the guy's throat in an instant. It's instinct, that's what it is."

The goat's face softened, and she gave Manning an appreciative smile.

"Eh, no problem, you big softie there," she teased, making the Doberman huff in annoyance.

"Hopefully things'll go as planned," Manning mumbled. "I'd hate to be the guy who helped get a framed cop put away."

"You and me both partner," Bouvier replied and leaned back in her chair.

* * *

As this was going on, Alexis was giving the frightened zebra her final instructions before swiping the ID-card off his chest.

"I'm gonna keep this," she said and read the name of the card, "… J. Garcia? Well, Mr. J. Garcia, if you try to warn the police, you might just get a smoking hole in your neck, so no funny business, okay?" The ocelot then showed the card inside her coat and gestured to the delivery boy to move. "Now get going. You're on the clock, remember?"

Nodding, Garcia hurried off to the house. Ringing the doorbell repeatedly, he looked back and saw Alexis standing near the porch, her hand still on the weapon. Then the zebra's ears twitched as he heard the door opening. Turning his head, he saw two ZPD officers, a yak, and a pronghorn, looking at him.

"Uh… Y-Your pizza officers…" he said and gave off a nervous smile. "Um, that'll be fifteen bucks...!"

"Huh, you got here right on time too," the yak said and looked down at his wristwatch. "Louie, take the pizza inside, I'm gonna pay the kid." The yak said to his partner, who nodded and grabbed the box. "So, fifteen eh? Does that this include the tip?"

The kid nodded nervously and the yak produced his wallet.

The pronghorn then opened the box in the background, and his eyes widened. Atop various layers of pepperoni and mozzarella, the pizza had a most unusual topping in the form of a flash bang grenade. A fishing line was also taped to the inside of the box's lid and ended with a hook that now had a loose pin dangling from it.

Letting out an audible gasp, the yak turned his head wondering what was going on, just as the delivery boy covered his eyes and the flash bang went off, creating a blinding white light.

Alexis advanced with her weapon out, rushed up the steps, pushed the kid aside, went into the hall and aimed the barrel of her gun between the blinded yak's eyes.

"Rest in peace," she purred and was about to pull the trigger when something small and hard suddenly struck her forearm.

A surge of electricity went through her arm and Alexis screamed. Jerking violently and striking the yak with the barrel of the gun before dropping it, the ocelot tripped over a nearby coffee table and then falling behind a couch. Looking down at her arm, which was now pulsating with a burning pain, she could see a small, paw-shaped marker was attached to the sleeve of her coat, which had now partially melted. Cursing in Russian, she ripped the pawprinter-ammo off and looked over the sofa to see an opossum standing up a nearby staircase, which was currently talking into a walkie-talkie.

"She's in the building! Call for the backup now!"

Taking the chance, Alexis pulled out her SMG and took a shot at the officer, blowing up his kneecap in a cloud of red and making him fall down the steps with several hard thuds before hitting the wall at the end of the stairs.

Getting up, she then walked over to the opossum. He was still conscious but breathed hard, and his right arm was twisted into a funny-looking position. Groaning, he looked up and saw the ocelot aiming her gun at his head.

"Which room does the weasel reside in?" She asked.

"Go to hell, you crazy bitch…!" the opossum hissed while gritting his teeth in a mix of anger and pain.

"You still have a chance at making it out of here alive," Alexis noted with a hint of impatience, pressing the barrel against the opossum's forehead. "If I was you I'd take it and spill the fucking beans."

Coughing and spitting up some blood, the opossum's eyes narrowed and then shut tightly.

"Fourth room in the corridor on the third floor," he replied.

"How many cops between me and him?"

"S-S-Six m-more…!"

"Thank you..." Alexis said and reloaded her SMG. "Normally I'd break my promise and kill you anyway, but seeing you in that position more than makes up for the shock therapy."

Looking back, she spotted the scared-looking zebra known as Garcia standing in the doorway.

"You should leave; this is about to get very loud and messy." She purred and watched Garcia run away from the door and disappear.

* * *

Hearing a couple of rushed footsteps coming from the second floor, she looked up. She had dealt with cops before, and in situations like these, they always formed a barricade. And since their mission was to protect this Weaselton-guy, that was where he with all likelihood would be.

Despite that, this didn't seem like it would be much of a challenge for the experienced ocelot. The ZPD weren't issued real firearms (only special units were given those), so this wasn't going to be that different from shooting at target dummies.

She went back to the hall to shut the door; given that she had incapacitated the surveillance, it would probably take some time before any kind of backup showed up. However, an open door and screams would no doubt urge some passerby to call 911 and make her situation considerably more difficult.

As she closed the door, she failed to spot a pair of polar bears on the other side of the street, which saw her clearly from inside their own car. They immediately went ahead and called for their own backup.

Meanwhile, Bouvier, Manning and the other three officers were busy setting up an ambush for the upcoming assault. They blocked the door with a bookshelf and started to move the sofa over to the windows.

"I take it that this is what we've been waiting for…!" Manning muttered as he and a jackal named Johnson moved the heavy sofa.

"Sure is," the jackal replied and glanced at the blocked doorway. "I just made a call to the surveillance truck but got no response. She might've gotten to them first."

"No…!" Bouvier said, her eyes wide with fear.

"Keep your head cool! I sent a message to the station, they'll get right on it!" Johnson said before he and the others ducked behind the sofa. "Whether it's a lone ranger or a dirty dozen, they're not gonna get through here so easy!"

Loading and taking off the safety of their paw-printers and tranq-pistols, the officers aimed at the blocked door. Hearing the muffled noise of gunshots through the walls, they all tensed up and were ready to fire at any given moment when the door could open.

The gunshots soon stopped, and things got really quiet, and as they did, time soon began to drag. As seconds turned into minutes, the officers started to become increasingly nervous.

"What's keeping her?" Bouvier whispered to Manning, who shushed her.

With all of their eyes trained to the door, the officers failed to notice the ocelot that was currently moving across the windows behind them.

With great skill, she had managed to sneak into the room before this one, and with the soft movements that were typical for a smaller type of feline, she had gotten out through the window and were currently climbing over to the windows of the officer-filled room. Spotting the three, Alexis struggled and managed to pull out the last of her flash bangs.

Throwing it through the glass of the window, the grenade landed right among the unprepared officers. Turning their heads, Manning instinctively flung his arms around Bouvier's face and cried out "FLASH BANG!"

As the light exploded into the room and blinded the officer's, the ocelot averted her eyes and stayed outside the window till it was safe to look again.

The Doberman had managed to cover Bouvier's eyes pretty well, but she still struggled to see anything but blurry shades and spots as Manning pulled back from her head.

The others, including Manning, had not been as lucky, tripping over each other and rubbing their eyes like crazy.

"Where is the weasel?" An accented voice suddenly asked. Bouvier blinked, an unfamiliar blur of yellow, black and brown had appeared before her.

"What," she said in confusion. In response, she received a hard smack on the side of her face by something hard.

"I'll do worse if you're unless you start being more helpful!" The voice continued, and as Bouvier's eyes adjusted, she began to see that it belonged to the ocelot for which she and the others had been prepped to encounter, who held her by the collar of her uniform and was aiming an SMG right at her face.

"Eat shit," she said, which earned her an unamused scowl from the assassin.

"Oh yeah?" Alexis said and forced the SMG's muzzle and part of the barrel into the shocked goat's mouth, making her nearly choke on the thick taste of iron and gunpowder. "You eat lead then!"

Then an aggressive growl made the ocelot's ears twitch. Looking at her right, she saw a Doberman officer, his eyes tear-filled and bloodshot, with his upper lip curled up, and had his big and curved canine teeth bared at her.

"Listen, you messed up bitch, if you want the weasel, I can tell you where he is. You just get that goddamn gun away from her! She's going to be a mother for Christ sake, doesn't that mean anything to you!?"

This prompted Alexis to raise her eyebrow and then give the goat and odd look.

"Is that so?" She said and pulled the gun out of the female goat's mouth, who coughed and felt sick.

A memory swiftly flashed before the assassin's eyes. Suddenly she was back in France, with everyone screaming and chaos reigning. Before her, on the ground, laid a mother and her child… They were both dead; both of them had killed by her gun.

"I see…." She muttered as she returned to the present, taking the finger from the trigger of her gun and instead used the butt of it to strike the goat in the back of her head, knocking her out. "There you go," she said and turned to face the Doberman, her gun now trained at him. "Now, while I'm still feeling generous, tell me where I can find Weaselton."

Manning nodded at a thin door nearby.

"Through that door and up the stairs. He's hiding in the attic."

"Hm…" Alexis eyed the dog, whose blinking eyes had gone worriedly down towards at the unconscious goat. "Are you the father?"

"No," Manning replied, and at the very same moment as he did, Alexis shot him in the hip.

The Doberman screamed and fell down, clutching the wound.

"Good… I'll have you know, I can't stand a lying dog, so if I don't find the one I'm looking for up there, I'm gonna come back down here and violently neuter you with this gun. Capiche?" She said, but got no response from the dog, who were in too much pain to even hear her.

Rolling her eyes, she then made her way toward the door. As she opened it, she faced a steep and narrow case of stairs that lead upward. Walking and closing the door behind her, she began to make her way up those steps.

Eventually getting up in the attic, she looked around to see herself surrounded by several stacked up cardboard boxes, and in the corner of the room, a bed.

Her eyes narrowed as she spotted what looked like a little brown tail peeking out from underneath it.

"Now listen here Weaselton," she spoke up and began to walk over towards it, "we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. You play along and I'll give you a quick one between the eyes. Otherwise, I might take things personally and…" Finally reaching it and grabbing the tail, she pulled it and dragged her target out in the open.

Alexis, who had lived many bizarre and strange things while making a living as a mercenary and assassin, was shocked all the same to her core as found out that what she had pulled out wasn't a real weasel at all, but a stuffed otter-toy.

She recognized as a blue-clad character from a movie poster, whose title was something along the lines Floatzen or something. Squeezing it and looking into the shiny button eyes with a dumbfounded expression, the doll began to play a song that really annoyed the ocelot for some reason.

"Let it float, let it FLOAT!"

Over this, the ocelot's ears suddenly picked up a harsh, female voice coming from outside the building.

"ALEXANDRA KOTIJANOVA!" It said, apparently with the help of a large megaphone. "This is commander May Swinton of the Razorbacks talking! We know you're in there!"

It quickly dawned on Alexis that she had been set up, making her heart jump up her throat.

She had of course heard of the Razorbacks. They were the Zootopia Special Forces (ZSWAT), who was known to be really tough bastards that were armed to the teeth with lethal firearms and were the ones they called in to quell dangerous situations like riots, hostage situations, and other fun stuff.

"Nyet…!" She hissed and threw the otter-doll against the wall (making it re-play the same fucking song) before rushed down the stairs.

When she came down, she tried to open the door but found that she couldn't. She tried to furiously ram her shoulder against the door, only to be painfully reminded of her burnt arm. Gritting her teeth, she realized that something was blocking the door on the other side.

Looking down at her SMG, she realized that she had like four bullets left of her last clip and only a single shotgun shell in one of her inner pockets. "FUCK!" She screamed and furiously began to make her way up the stairs again.

* * *

"A trap eh?" Nick Wilde mumbled as he took another spoonful of Bonnie Hopps delicious blueberry pie. He then pointed at his partner on the other side of the bars with the spoon and chuckled. "Sly bunny."

"Well, I guess you've had a certain influence on me," Judy replied as she stood with her arms crossed and a triumphant little smile on her face, sitting on a folded chair in the corridor of the holding cell block.

"Uh-huh… Though one thing still puzzles me: How on earth did you manage to convince your parents to house Weaselton and his family until the trial?"

"They were actually the ones who suggested it." Nick gave Judy a look of skeptical disbelief, making the bunny nod admittedly in response.

"Yeah, I could hardly believe it myself… You see, right after Finnick dropped me off and I went to see how they were doing, Bogo called and updated me on the situation. Apparently, they had a hard time finding a proper safe house on such a short notice, given that the criminals known as the Rat Pack was in town and had already taken most of the good ones for the sake of ratting out their own bosses. Anyway, mom and dad overheard it, and as soon as I finished talking, they said that Weaselton and his family could live with them if that would help me in any way."

"… And you just agreed to it?" Nick wondered. Judy shook her head.

"I tried to talk them out of it, but they wouldn't take no for an answer. Something about 'understanding my world' or something."

"Did they know about Duke's record?"

"Of course, I told them, but they still wouldn't take no for an answer. They argued that nobody could be dumb enough to burgle the family of the cop who had just put him and his family in protective custody."

"Good point, though I wouldn't underestimate Duke's stupidity," Nick mumbled. "Did you know that he tried to sell knock-off Predex-watches with three exes in them? He tried to market them as extra-extra-extra limited editions."

"Did he now?" Judy asked with an amused tone and giggled. "Either way, I'm not that worried anymore. Delgato and Laughton are going to transfer to the Burrows and keep a lookout. Plus, I have a feeling that as long as his siblings are all right, he won't get up to any mischief… By the way, how are things going with Flash?"

"Better than I expected. It may take a while going over stuff with him, but he knows this legal stuff better than I do, and that's saying something. And considering all the stuff you and Honey have managed to gather, he thinks this trial should be a real cakewalk," Nick said before giving the bunny a grateful expression. "I really do appreciate what you've done for me."

"Oh don't mention it, it's nothing really," Judy replied and light-heartedly waved it off with her paw.

"Yes, it is. You have no idea how it makes me feel."

The two stared at each other, another one of those awkward silences showing it's ugly face in between them. Judy gave off a little cough and scratched the back of her right ear.

"You would've done the same for me."

"I would…" The fox said in a low voice and nodded. Biting his lip, he then continued. "Um, listen here Carrots, there's something I want to talk about."

Judy stared at Nick. Why did that sentence make her heart suddenly pick up a pace?

"Sounds serious…!"

"It is… You see, it's a question I've wanted to ask you for quite a while," Nick continued. "I would've done it sooner, but… Well…"

"Uh-huh…?" Judy said and expectantly edged her chair closer to bars of the cell. Nick swallowed.

"Would… I mean, what is…"

Looking into the bunny's big, violet eyes, Nick suddenly felt speechless. It was like his tongue had suddenly become glued to the roof of his mouth… When was the last time he had felt like this anyway? High School? He was thirty-two for Christ's sake, why did this have to be so difficult?! All of a sudden he felt like a Clearasil-dipped teen misfit again, back when he had this big crush on Vixie Russell, the prettiest cheerleader of his class. Making a long story short, his courage failed him in this most crucial moment and made him choke, so instead of saying intended question, he found himself asking something completely different.

"… The pancake incident?"

Judy's eyes widened and her mouth opened in disbelief, and the fox mentally slapped his forehead on account of his cowardice. What the hell was wrong with him?!

"…THAT'S what you want to ask me?" Judy asked, not really sure whether she wanted to laugh or strangle her dad for ever mentioning that embarrassing little episode from her childhood.

"Yeah… It's been eating me up since it was brought up," Nick lied and then made a pair of exaggerated puppy-eyes. "Pretty please tell me, your poor imprisoned partner?"

Giving her partner an odd look, the bunny sighed.

"Okay then… When I was about eight, there was going to be this bake-off at this festival which the Burrows arrange every year. Mom had convinced me to take part of it, probably because she thought it might take my mind off my police-dream. She and dad did that a lot before they realized I wouldn't quit on it… Anyway, I had decided to make a pancake cake with-"

Judy's voice trailed off as she noticed someone approaching. It was officer Hohenheim, who stopped before her with a serious expression.

"Judy, the chief wants to talk to you right now. It's urgent," the gorilla said.

"I'll be back soon," Judy told Nick and got up from her chair.

"You better be, the cliffhanger is killing me!" He called after her.

"Dumb fox," she mumbled and shook her head as she walked away. Nick, on the other hand, continued to consume the delicious pie that had been given to him.

* * *

Swarming into the building, the Razorbacks, dressed in granite-grey uniforms, began to search every room with their MP5A2 rifles ready for action. What they found looked like a war zone, with walls covered in bullet holes and tranq darts. Bodies of ZPD officers were scattered on a path towards the third floor, all of them in critical conditions or worse.

As the ZSWAT-members secured the area, experienced ambulance workers began to put the wounded onto stretchers and carried them out of the building with as much haste as they could afford.

Eventually making it up to the top floor, they found the room where they had been instructed to go. After opening with it certain difficulty, they went in and found five live officers. This included a wounded Doberman, which we're resting on the floor with a female goat, who were busy pressing a piece of cloth over a bleeding wound on his hip.

The other four officers were busy holding a big couch against a thin door nearby.

Chelsea Bouvier looked up when one of the Razorbacks (which was actually a panda) approached her and fixed Manning with a serious expression.

"Where is the target?" He asked.

"Up in the attic," Bouvier replied and pointed at the blocked door.

"Good, and don't worry, the ambulance workers is on their way." He said and grabbed a piece of his headset and spoke into it. "This is Zhao, we have it confirmed that the target is trapped in the attic as planned."

"Good. Make sure the wounded gets out of there before proceeding," a female voice responded.

"Understood," Zhao said and turned to face his men. "Get ready boys, we're going to go up there in just a few moments, and remember, she needs to be alive to face trial. Your goal is to incapacitate, so aim at non-lethal areas only."

* * *

This was officially the biggest trouble ever, and Alexis had walked straight into it like a complete greenhorn! Three SMG bullets and a single shotgun shell wouldn't be enough to do anything but create dents in the bulletproof vests of the Special Forces that now had cornered up in the attic like a rat. She desperately searched the boxes around for something she could use to fend the coppers off, but only found useless documents and papers in some kind of foreign language (several of them had an odd symbol of a hammer hitting an anvil that seemed oddly familiar).

Angrily throwing the boxes aside, her eyes widened when she found a small window, which seemed to be just about the right size for her to get through. Cracking it open with the butt of her rifle, she peeked out of it and looked down. It led out into an alley behind the building, but it was clear that it was way too far down for her to jump. Looking around, she could see a pipe on her left leading down to the ground not too far away from the window.

A makeshift plan formed in her mind and she rushed back, in good time to her some suspicious noise downstairs. In a hurry, she began to throw the cardboard boxes and the documents down the stairs, clogging the path up to her. After crinkling up some of the paper into balls, she then picked up her last shotgun shell from her pocket and ripped off the primer, pouring out the black gunpowder over the paper. Searching her pants she, she soon found her lighter too (she didn't smoke anymore, but still carried it around out of habit) and then used to ignite the powder and make burn and pop like a firecracker. The flame it created began grew at a rapid pace and began to fill the room with smoke.

Having finished the distraction, the ocelot hurried back to the small window and climbed out, though not before removing the SMG and placing it on the floor (it was too big and clumsy for her to carry it and climb down at the same time).

Reaching out and barely managing to grab the pipe, she began to slide down. Losing control after about three-thirds of it, she came down too fast and landed a little too hard on her feet. Cursing and managing to stand up beside the pain in her legs and starting to limp away, as she knew that she had to get out of there before the Razorbacks realized that she was no longer in the building.

Getting towards the end of the alley, Alexis stopped in her tracks as she found her path blocked by a familiar-looking car. The door opened to reveal the face of her uncle Kozlov peaking out.

"Get in here, QUICK!" He said.

Alexis blinked in confusion. This didn't really feel right at all, but considering the there were more pressing circumstances at hand, she threw caution to the wind and hurried into the car. With her in it, the driver of the vehicle floored it and soon made it into major traffic, with the ZSWAT-filled three-story house growing ever distant.

"Alexandra," Kozlov said in a neutral tone as Alexis sat up and met his look. His expression was anything but amused.

"Uncle," Alexis said and tried to match the polar bear's mood. Looking around, she noticed four brown bears, two each sitting on the sides of her and Kozlov. All of them was many times her size and did not look overly pleased to see her. "You know, we REALLY need to stop meeting like this… So what's going happen now eh? Back to the shrew-father?"

"No," Kozlov said and sighed. "As much as this goes against my employer, whom I genuinely respect and are loyal to, you are still Dimitri's daughter… I gave him my word that I would do anything to keep you out of harm's way, and so I shall. You have nothing to fear at the moment."

Raising her eyebrows, the ocelot then crossed her arms and relaxed somewhat.

"Then where are you taking me?"

"To the edge of town. If I were you I'd get myself to the nearest airport and leave this city forever," Kozlov replied.

Alexis snorted.

"Heh, as wonderful as that sounds, I must refuse. I still have a job to finish."

Kozlov glared at the feline.

"Do you think this is fun?! This is the last time I can do anything for you, your final chance to get out of this before you get killed!" He growled angrily at his goddaughter. "If your father was still alive, what would he have said?"

This caused a curious reaction from Alexis, who hardly ever showed her genuine emotions. With her careless façade cracking, it first exposed a stunned look, which soon transformed into one of intense anger.

"My father is dead…! The dead don't speak, so don't think I am doing this for anyone but MYSELF!" She screamed and pointed at the surprised bear with an accusing finger. "You always go on about what a great soldier and friend he was to you, but have you ever really stopped to think about what he was like to me?! Didn't you ever wonder what it was that drove me into this life?! I won't make excuses, because he was a fine soldier all right, and a decent father… at first. The older I got, the novelty of being parent seemed to run dry for him… Gone was the honor and pride that you remember so fondly, and the only thing left was a sad shell, a shriveled-up nothing who lamented his past sins and drank to keep his demons at bay…! In the end, he wasn't drinking the liquor, the liquor was drinking him!" The ocelot the lowered her arm, a melancholic sort of emptiness taking shape in her eyes. "I refuse to end up like that… If this gig is going to get the better of me, at least gonna die like he should have."

Kozlov stared at the feline. He couldn't recall ever seeing her like this, and for some reason, it hurt.

"… So you will not do as I say?"

"Nyet," the ocelot said and shook her head. "This is my life, my choice."

"Hearing that makes me sad… But at least I've tried," Kozlov said as the car slowed down. Looking out the window, Alexis saw that they were now on the same street as her apartment. "I mean it, Alexandra, this is the very last time I'll help you. Next time we see each other, I'll have to kill you."

Looking at her uncle, Alexis nodded and smiled, having returned to her artificial cheer, before getting up and stepping out of the car.

She then turned to face Kozlov one last time.

"There are worse ways to go," Alexis said before harshly slamming the door of the car shut.

* * *

"… This is not possible. I can't believe what I'm hearing," Judy said. She was now in chief Bogo's office, and the buffalo had just told what had become of the plan.

Apparently, the assassin had shown up, wounded several officers who were now on their way to the hospital, and had then become trapped in the attic as intended. But then, just as the Razorbacks were about to arrest her, they found out that she had started a fire, which had quickly spread. Getting out of the building and calling the firefighters, who had managed to kill the fire, the officers had then discovered no trace whatsoever of the ocelot.

Having heard all of this from the chief himself, an overpowering, sinking feeling had taken hold of Judy's stomach.

"You better be, cause I'm not," Bogo said while rubbing his temple. "Eight fine officers in critical condition or worse… She was trapped and hunted by the Razorbacks and she still got away. And now the goddamn press knows! BY ALLAH, WHAT THE HELL!?" The buffalo screamed and slammed his hoofed hands into his desk. "Now it won't take long before every reporter in town wants to know what's going on, and then we have to stand and explain ourselves like a bunch of goddamn morons!"

"I don't understand," Judy mumbled, still not wrapping her head around this. "How could she have escaped just like that?!"

"I don't know Hopps," the buffalo muttered. "Either she's awful paranoid, or there's another leak in this station… Whatever it is, it's not boding well for any of us. The city council is going to look for somebody to blame, and that means that either of our jobs could be on the line."

"I… I am sorry," Judy said, earning a look from the buffalo.

"Oh don't make that face Hopps!" He said in annoyance. "Don't take too much of the credit… Obviously, this woman is sneakier than we could've ever anticipated."

"But it was my stupid plan…!"

"Which I approved of because I believed it would work," Bogo replied. "Don't make a big thing of this just yet, you still have a job to do getting Wilde out of trouble. You're excused."

Judy nodded and then left the office, still pretty unsure of her despite Bogo's gruff assurances. Just then, her phone beeped. Judy pulled out her phone and opened the message she had just received, which came from an unknown number.

"Officer Hopps, I'm someone who wants to help with the case. In the impound lot, they have the car of your assassin, it should have some clues there. It should be parked under number 214B," the message said, making Judy gasp.

* * *

The ZPD impound lot was a great underground garage that was darkly lit and damp, containing plenty of cars, motorbikes and even an entire septic tank truck. Most people would find it creepy, but Judy, like most rabbits, had spent most of her early life in a burrow. Admittedly, these surroundings were hardly as homely as the burrow-houses of her hometown, whose tunnels led a lot further down below ground and were impressively built to house ever-growing families through all weathers and seasons.

Trying to turn on the lights, she found that the switch didn't work and took out a small flashlight from her belt. Going through the garage and looking around, she passed the familiar frame of Flash Slothmore's sports car ('some lawyer who gets caught speeding' she thought) before finding what she was looking for.

She approached the truck and was about to study it, when the sound of something behind her made her spin around. To her surprise she saw another ZPD officer; a young wolf who was covering his eyes from the light of Judy's flashlight.

"… Moony? It is Moony, isn't it? The new recruit under Wolford, right?" She asked.

"Ah, officer Hopps, I'm sorry if I scared you," the wolf said as Judy lowered her flashlight.

"No biggie, I'm just a little jumpy these days. What are you doing down here?" She asked, looking back at the car.

"Wolford sent me, told me that there might be some vital evidence in this here truck," the wolf replied and patted the side of it.

"Really, what is it?" Judy asked and went to look into the window of the passenger seat.

"You~" The wolf said softly, and before Judy could react, she was grabbed from behind and a cloth was pressed over her mouth and nose.

Panic rose in the shocked rabbit as she struggled to get loose while an acrid, burning smell made it's way up her nostrils. Soon her body grew heavy and her head began to feel light-headed, with her last thoughts being a constant barrage of no's before she lost consciousness.

Holding the limp rabbit and removing the chloroform-soaked cloth, the "wolf" grinned and betrayed a perfect set of flat teeth. "Sleep tight pred-lover, cause you're gonna have a very rude awakening in the morning."


	12. Chapter 12: Sweet Home, Sweet Burrow

_Authors Note: Hey! So we're back and I do apologize for taking so long. Once again I had some health issues and life issues that interrupted both these chapters, but I still hope it's enjoyable never the less!_

* * *

Chapter 12: Sweet Home, Sweet Burrow.

"Stu, are you sure this is gonna work?" Bonnie asked as she looked at her husband. They were both standing outside the train station and were currently waiting for the Weaselton-family. Stu gave her an assuring smile.

"Oh, c'mon dear you agreed to this idea as well. Besides, it's the least we can do for Judy" the middle-aged bunny replied and gave his wife a little kiss on the cheek, just when they spotted a large taxicab pull over. Stu's brows lifted at this. "Oh, I think it's them."

As the door opened, at least a dozen brownish figures climbed out of the cab and hurried up to the train station. Duke, who was the tallest, spotted the waving Stu and Bonnie a few meters away. Speaking a few words to his family and pointing at the married couple, the whole group then approached and stopped in front of them.

Duke himself looked kind of nervous and sort of flustered.

"H - Hey, nice to see you guys. Sorry that it took me a while, just had to get them all together and make sure we had the bare essentials with us." Duke explained.

"It's all fine Mr. Weaselton," Bonnie said softly, and then looked down at Duke's numerous siblings. "So, maybe you should introduce us?"

"Oh, r-r-right! I almost forgot!" Duke said, as he looked at his siblings "Okay, all get in line, c'mon now!"

After some scurrying and quite a bit of grumbling, all the siblings stood in a row as Duke cleared his throat and looked back at Stu and Bonnie, gesturing at the first weasel.

"Alright, this here is Franky," Duke murmured.

Franky looked like he was somewhere in his early twenties, wearing a cheap and chewed up business-suit. His fur was fairly kept, with the hair on his head combed back. He had a somewhat haggard appearance, with a pair of blue eyes that had noticeable dark circles under, and seemed to have a stressed disposition, as he made repeated attempts to light up a cigarette in his mouth with a tiny lighter. He gave the Hopps a casual wave as he finally managing to light his cigarette, getting a look of relief as he exhaled some smoke through his nostrils before giving Duke a venomous glare.

Duke didn't seem to notice this though and moved his gaze over to the next weasel, who was a girl who seemed to be roughly seventeen.

"And this is Evangeline," he said, as the girl gave the bunnies a sweet smile and made a small curtsy. She had long hair that was of a darker shade than her fur and was tied together in a ponytail. She was dressed in a dark blue jacket, a black skirt and a pair of reading glasses that rested on her muzzle and obscured a pair of green eyes, while her hands held what seemed to be a violin case.

"Greetings, it's nice to meet you both," she greeted the Hopps, who both liked her instantly.

Smiling at her, Duke's eyes then traveled over to another girl. This weasel looked like she was about sixteen, and her overall appearance practically screaming "typical teenager", as she wearing gray hoodie with the hood lifted up, was busy texting someone at a rapid pace, and her jaw moving back and forth as she chewed what Stu assumed was gum.

"This is Doris… Who I, guessing by the fact that she hasn't torn her eyes away from her phone all day, doesn't even know she has left her room."

Doris paused from her texting to stick her tongue out at her older brother, before returning to her phone and not even bothering to lift her head as she gave Stu and Bonnie a little wave.

"And this is-" Duke said as he turned to face the next sibling, but before he could continue, this weasel, which was a boy, quickly shot out a hand and grabbed a surprised Stu's hand and shook rapidly.

"Hello there, Mr. and Mrs. Rabbit! Pleasure to meet ya, thanks for taking us in!" He said in an upbeat and energetic voice. The boy, which seemed to be at least fifteen, was pretty much a mini version of Duke, down to his clothing style and facial features. As he was done shaking Stu's paw, he then moved over to Bonnie and did the same, talking non-stop as he did. "The name's Corey, but people just call me Mouth or Would-you-please-shut-up, feel free to choose whichever. I gotta tell ya, here I thought were have to change our names and addresses and stuff. Heck, I recall one time we had to pretend to be Asians to - mhhp!" He was suddenly silenced as Doris grabbed him around the mouth and pulled him back, still texting with her free hand.

Giving off a frustrated sigh, Duke gave Doris an appreciative nod and then pointed at two twelve-year-olds, who were busy having an argument about something as they seemed to be having a tug of war with a thick comic-book.

"And those two little hell-raisers are the twins, Jake and Lily," he muttered and then glanced at the two remaining ones in the lineup.

"And those two are Mike and Lucy and… Where's Tim?" Duke asked, looking around for someone.

"Probably hiding in the car," Lucy replied, her words somewhat slurred because a big, glittering pair of braces that covered her teeth. Her hair was done in a pair of pigtails, while her clothes were composed of a somewhat torn up T-shirt and a pair of simple jeans-shorts with crossed braces. This, plus a big plaster on her nose, gave an impression of a tomboy-like nature.

"Naaaah, he's standing behind Eva," Mike added, being around six years old and wearing possibly one of the strangest mixes of colorful clothes that the Hopps had ever seen on a child, with an over-sized t-shirt, an adult sweater with its sleeves tied around his shoulders like a cape, a couple of sweatpants, a headband wit a lighting-bolt and a striped sock on his right hand. Even his hair, which was spiky and bleached in blonde and green, added to his odd appearance.

Hearing this, Evangeline's brows rose and she looked over her shoulder. Sighing, she stepped aside, showing a very small and meek-looking weasel with a green, knitted sweater that was way too big for him, with the sleeves going past his hands the collar of covering the lower half of his face like a scarf. He looked like he was just nine years old, and seemed to tremble a little as he gave Bonnie and Stu a faint wave before quickly moving behind Evangeline again.

"That would be Tim. He's… A little timid around strangers," Duke said while rubbing the back of his head.

Bonnie chuckled softly, as she couldn't help finding the shy little weasel adorable. She stepped forward and extended her hand.

"Oh little one, there's no need to be shy, me and Stu won't hurt you." She said as Tim peeked out from behind Evangeline. He looked at her with a pair of big and insecure eyes, before giving a little nod and taking Bonnie's hand and shaking it carefully, before slowly stepping out fully. Bonnie detected a little smile creeping up his underneath the collar of his shirt.

* * *

The train-ride was peaceful, if one didn't count Jake and Lily's continuous fighting and Corey's constant talking, which didn't just extend to his family and the Hopps but also random passengers, some of which probably most likely considered jumping out of the speeding train as they suffered through his endless barrage of bad jokes. But, before anyone had given in to the impulse of throttling the chatty 15-year old, the train reached its destination.

After having being driven by Bonnie's sister July (a heavy little rabbit who repeatedly threw nervous glances in the rearview mirror to keep an eye on the unfamiliar weasels), the middle-aged bunnies and the family of weasels walked up towards the farm. As they reached the Hopps family building, which resembled a pink barn that had been built inside a large hill, the younger weasels became increasingly eager, save for Tim who was walking beside Evangeline and looking down while holding her hand, and Doris who was still texting. Taking a deep breath of the fresh country air, Evangeline then exhaled softly and smiled.

"Well, this looks very nice, can't remember the last time we were in the country~" She murmured.

"Last year, when we nearly got buried in that mine in Mexico," Franky muttered while pulling out a fresh cigarette, his ninth since the trip started. "Or how about that one time in Nantucket-"

"That's enough, Franky." Evangeline quickly silenced her brother, while Duke gave Franky an angry look. As Stu and Bonnie looked at each other, Evangeline leaned and talked to them in an apologetic tone. "Don't mind him, he's just joking."

"Well, um, alright then, how about we go and introduce you to the others and help you settle in?" Stu suggested as Evangeline nodded.

"That sounds great, c'mon everyone~" Evangeline said and the kids quickly ran towards the farm at Mach five speed (again, except for Tim).

"Yeah, you do that sis, I need to have a little talk with Franky," Duke muttered, as Evangeline nodded and went ahead with the rest of her siblings.

Raising his eyebrow and lighting his latest cigarette, Franky turned and gave his brother a feigned look of interest.

"Alright, what do you want?" Franky asked as he blew out a ring of smoke.

"Yeah, I'd like to know what your fucking problem is," Duke said as he crossed his arms. "You've done nothing but complain and act like a whiny little bitch these last few hours. I mean, I'm used to it by now, but these people you ain't got no beef with. Would it kill ya to be nice to them?"

"You're asking me what my problem is? Well, golly Gee older brother lemme think about it… Oh, could it be…? YOU!" Franky suddenly yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Duke, who twitched and took a step back. "IT'S ALWAYS YOU! WE'RE BACK IN THE ASS OF A PROBLEM AGAIN BECAUSE OF YOUR BULLSHIT! SO DON'T TELL ME WHO I SHOULD BE NICE TO OR NOT!"

"H-Hey, don't say that! I brought you out here for your own safety. I did it all for you guys!" Duke exclaimed.

"Like hell you did! If you did anything for us, you wouldn't have gotten yourself involved in the first place! You did it for yourself because ya know once we get our shit together, we'll leave your sorry butt behind!" Franky said, as he stepped forward and poked Duke in the chest. "I was this close Duke, this fucking close to land a job with pay at the firm, but now the position'll go to someone else because of your illegal bullshit, and I'll have to stay in that filthy house with these rags and eat whatever you've probably picked out of someone's garbage can!"

Franky threw the cigarette at Duke, making his brother stare at him with a hurt expression on his face.

"Oh really?" He said in an unsteady voice, almost like he was about to cry. "I guess I'll have to remind that you wouldn't have even gotten a foot inside that firm if I hadn't risked life and limb in the gutter, scrounging up the necessary money to pay for your courses and that lousy suit…!"

Franky looked like he was about to give Duke another angry retort, but was cut off as his brother.

"You think you're better than I am, but I'll have you know that you picked your way and I picked mine, and unlike you, I had no choice in the matter," Duke continued, his voice getting an increasing edge by the second. He clenched his fists and glared at Franky, and it was now the younger weasel's turn to take a step back. "And guess what, my way is harder than yours! I might not be able to give ya guys the Ritz, but I'll let you know that even though I've dragged you all over the place, I still kept you out of danger! You didn't see what I've had to see, you didn't do the things I've had to do, and I'm especially glad you didn't Franky-boy because I know you wouldn't be able to handle it, cause you're too much of a coward!"

Having finished that sentence, Duke then received a slap from Franky, who with a pair of bitter eyes then turned around and made his way towards the farm, leaving Duke standing there with a stunned expression.

As Franky stepped inside the house, Evangeline, who gave him a disapproving look, met him in the hall.

"Don't start with me Ev, I'm too goddamn tired," he muttered and hurried past her.

A few moments later, Duke came in as well. He didn't say anything, mostly staring at the floor. He looked at his sister briefly, and then moved on, giving off a sad little sigh.

* * *

As three days passed, the Weaseltons began to truly settle in the Hopps household. Stu and Bonnie had explained to the family members that lived in their house (which included their parents, grandparents, their many children and even their more plentiful grandchildren) that the weasels were in hiding for the sake of one of Judy's cases. To his great gratitude, though, they left out the exact details of Duke's involvement.

Initially, not every member of the Hopps family was friendly to them, several of the older ones being highly suspicious and other seeming downright terrified of them.

Still, there were plenty of Hoppses who displayed the same kind of warmth hospitality that Stu and Bonnie had, so overall, it wasn't that bad.

Evangeline and Tim had volunteered to help around the house with everyday tasks, such as cooking and washing the dishes, which almost seemed like an industry of its own given the sheer size of it. Duke, who had always figured that it was hard with just nine siblings, had been blown away by the fact that Bonnie and Stu had at least 260 children and still counting.

He was especially glad to see that Tim had quickly formed a connection with Mrs. Hopps, who seemed to enjoy the extra help and the company of him and his sister. He still didn't talk very much but had at least stopped hiding behind people when seeing a new face, which was a big step in the right direction.

Evangeline had fit in pretty well too, which didn't surprise Duke given her nice manners and charm. She had even gotten a loyal little following of young rabbits that enjoyed listening to her whenever she practiced the violin.

Corey and Lucy had also turned out to be helpful, as they were out most of the day with Stu and some of his older sons, taking part in the heavy farm work. While Corey's mouth and it's ever-flowing content had been a bit grating at first, he did find common ground with Mr. Hopps, as they both enjoyed a plethora of bad jokes… To everyone else's great horror. Fortunately enough, Lucy did manage to keep them productive by once in a while effectively stating that if they didn't stop joking and get back to work, she would force-feed them with manure.

The Weaseltons who didn't feel quite as at home as the rest would be Franky and Doris. Franky hadn't talked with Duke since their argument, and Doris was pretty much being… Doris. She was a city girl pure and bred, so hard labor wasn't her kind of cookie, plus she missed fighting with her lousy boyfriend face to face, so she had pretty much resorted to doing so completely over the phone.

Duke himself was currently sitting on the porch of the main building, pouring himself a glass of chilled carrot juice as he stared off in the distance, watching Jake, Lily, and Mike play baseball with some bunnies that were around their own ages. This brought a faint smile on weasel's face as he took a sip from his glass, before instantly spitting it out.

"How do bunnies drink this stuff?!" He muttered under his breath, wiping his mouth with his arm.

"On the plus-side D, it must be healthier than that cheap beer you usually drink," Evangeline said as she came out and sat next to Duke. She was now wearing a pair of overalls, which she had borrowed from a bunny named Lucy, who was a younger cousin of officer Hopps.

"Healthier, but not as good," Duke muttered. Evangeline rolled her eyes and looked ahead at the baseball game as Jake hit the ball with the bat, and Mike began to run around the bases, kicking up a large cloud of dust as he went.

"… Franky is downtown applying for a job," Evangeline then said out of the blue. Duke's brows rose and he turned to look at his sister with interest.

"Is he now?"

"Yeah, apparently some local baking business needs an extra pair of hands."

Duke's brows rose even higher, and his mouth twisted into a scared grimace. Franky was infamously bad at any form of cooking.

"He's gonna bake?!" He asked, making Evangeline laugh.

"Good heavens no, he's applying for stockboy! The guy who owns it does business with the Hopps, so Mrs. Hopps quickly recommended him."

Duke exhaled in relief and gave a nod, before taking another sip of the revolting juice and sighing a little.

"Well, they should be happy to have him. He's a hard worker, that's for sure… Evie, do ya think Franky is right about me? Being a screw-up and all?"

"Oh no Duke, you're not a screw-up… I mean you do screw up occasionally, but it's not like you're doing it for a bad reason… Should I remind you how many times you risked your neck us?" She asked, smiling at him in an assuring manner. "And I don't think he really meant it, he's just sour because of the internship… You know, he doesn't want you to be the only one who provides for us."

"I suppose I can understand that…! But he could've been less of a dick about it."

"Heh, you know being nice isn't Franky's forte," Evangeline said, smiling to Duke who chuckled a little bit.

* * *

Some time later, after the baseball game, Jake and Lilly were playing with some of the bunny kids, teaching them the basics of poker on the outskirts of the farm.

The two knew this game well because there had been several occasions when their big brother Duke, lacking a proper babysitter to watch over them, had brought them with him for several games with his friends and business associates. During these games, they had come to understand the uses of reading your opponent, bluffing, properly understanding odds, and first and foremost, cheating without getting caught. While two didn't particularly care for the scary and rough-looking people that Duke played against, they did enjoy whenever their brother made a big win and would then go and treat them to cones of ice-cream at their favorite candy store.

Lily grinned, as she placed her cards on the surface on the big stump that they used as a table, and displayed another winning hand, making the bunnies around her groan and slap their cards, while the girl took their collective allowances and collection of gum for herself.

"See," Jake said in an educational tone and pointed at his sister. "There's the value of reading your opponents, the clearer the emotion, the easier they are to read. You guys, for instance, you wear all of your emotions in your ears; low ears means bad hand, standing up means good hand, which is why Lily wins so much. If you can learn to mask that, you've accomplished a proper poker-face."

This little educational episode was however played short, as the group suddenly heard a hard whistle. Turning their heads, they could see a trio composed of a pig and two wolfs around the ages of twelve and thirteen who looked at them over the wooden fence that surrounded the Hopps farm.

"Can we help you?" Lilly asked and tilted her head.

"Yeah, you can start by giving us all of that cash and candy you won from those bunnies." The pig said as he and the two wolves climbed over the fence and got near to the kids. Hopps-children's ears began to droop as looked at the trio in fear and began to back away from the stump. The pig flashed an unkind grin and then continued to talk. "Usually they give it to me, but since you won that, it means that you're the one who's gonna give it me."

"What are you? The sheriff of Notting-HAM?" Lily asked and poked the pig in his stomach. This comment earned a few chuckles and giggles from the bunnies; even the corners of the mouths of the wolves twitched at the wisecrack. The pig's ears grew red and his eyes squinted into dangerous black slits.

"What if we don't?" Jake asked and stood up, defiantly crossing his arms.

"Well, we're gonna beat the snot out of you and take it by force if you don't!" The pig said and moved towards Lily. He was at least twice her size, and the wolves were no midgets either as drew closer. Jake went over to his sister's side, but he too looked very small and pathetic when facing the three bullies.

"Like Hell you will!" A threatening growl was suddenly heard. Turning their heads, the group could see that Lucy had appeared out of nowhere, her overalls covered with dirt and her teeth bare. "Touch my brother and sister and I'll bite your head off!"

Looking at her with stunned expressions, the trio then began to laugh loudly, making Lucy roll her eyes before making her way towards the laughing pig and deliver a swift kicked in his shin. The pig stopped laughing, gave off a pained scream and then held his leg. As he bent over, the weasel gave him a hard push that made the hefty mammal fall down on his back.

The wolves, who were too surprised to do anything, watched in horror as the female weasel stepped onto their leader's chest, knelt down and pointed a claw at his nose.

"This is me being NICE buster! So unless you want your big fat oinker punched in, I suggest you get off your bacon, take your company of wolves, and PISS OFF before I feel like getting MEAN!" She said and stepped off the kid, who immediately got up, breathed furiously through his nostrils and began to back off.

"This isn't over!" He said, as he and his flunkies jumped over the fence and soon disappeared out of sight.

Lucy meanwhile adjusted her clothes, rubbing off some of the dirt they had collected from pulling carrots out of the field all day. She then looked at Lilly and Jake with a grin and extended her paw.

Looking at each other with a pair dreading eyes, the twins then began to put a section of their collected winnings in their sister's open palm. The Hopps-children looked at this in confusion, as they had no idea that this was their routine since early school days, with their sister getting a cut of their earnings as protection money.

* * *

Stu sighed softly, having just returned from the fields. He had dirt on his hands and knees, his neck felt hot and he was dying for a cup of coffee. Seeing his wife in the kitchen as she was cleaning a couple of pie dishes, he smiled at her and turned on a free tap at the broad sink in order to wash his paws.

"Well, it would seem like our guests are getting along pretty well." He said.

"Tell me about it, little Timmy and Evangeline has been a great help all day… You know, they're not bad people, just very unfortunate in a way." Bonnie murmured softly, with Stu nodding in agreement. "Poor Duke, having to raise his family all by himself… I mean we have a big family too, but we've always had each other. That man could really use a good woman."

"Don't we all?" Stu said while giving Bonnie a loving look and wiping his paws with a kitchen towel.

Just then the phone began to ring. Blinking, Stu went and answered it. "Yes, this is Stu Hopps speaking…?"

Listening to whoever was talking and nodding a few times, Stu's carefree face started to go pale and ears began to drop. Then, all of a sudden, he dropped the phone and looked at his wife with an expression that made her realize in an instant that something was wrong.

"Stu, what's the matter? Who was that?"

Stu began to answer her with a shaky voice.

"That was the ZPD… J-J-J-Judy's g-gone…"


	13. Chapter 13: Fox away!

Chapter 13: Fox Away!

* * *

Nick paced back and forth in his cell, unable to feel even the slightest smudge of peace at the moment.

It had been roughly ten minutes since Bogo himself had told him that Judy had disappeared without a trace. After a few intense moments of panic and ranting and begging the buffalo to let him out, his boss simply assured him that all the necessary steps had been taken and that every available officer was currently out looking for her.

This did diddlysquat to calm the incarcerated vulpine though.

"I'm her partner! I have more right than anyone to try and find her!" His yelling voice echoed through the cellblock.

"As I've told you Wilde, I can't let you out," Bogo replied. "You're still facing serious charges, and you know that letting you out before any of them are debunked would violate some serious protocols. Both of us would be in hot water up to our ears if I let that happen."

Nick's grip on the bars between him and the buffalo tightened.

"But I know her better than anyone, I need to help!"

"Then do so from where you are. Giro and Spray - I mean Rayleigh, are going to come and ask you some questions; tell them all you know about Judy, and they will hop to it," Bogo said, and just before he left, he added: "Don't worry, we'll find her."

After that the poor fox had been left alone in his cell, worrying himself nearly to the grave when imagining what might have happened to her. His best bet was on the ocelot, this so-called Saint.

But she couldn't have made her way across town from the safe house and taken down Judy so easily, not after hearing what damage she had taken… She would have to be a bloody machine to accomplish that, so it must've been someone else involved.

Wandering around his cell and wondering internally who could get that close to Judy and simply take her, Nick suddenly stopped and realized that worrying sick wasn't going to solve anything. He had to get out of there and find Judy on his own, not because he didn't trust his fellow officers, but because there were places where only someone with his connections could get some useful answers. Turning around, Nick's eyes locked onto his food tray, flashing a sly grin as a plan started to form in his head.

* * *

Soon enough the two officers Giro and Rayleigh, who were a deer and a camel respectively, entered the cellblock and moved towards Nick's cell. To their great surprise they could see Nick kneeling beside his toilet seat and giving of hurling noises.

"You okay there, Wilde?" Camille Rayleigh asked nervously. The camel was a known germophobe throughout the station, and was famously nicknamed "Sprayleigh" on account of him always carrying a spray of disinfectant spray in his pocket.

"No…" Nick replied with a shaky tone. "Somebody ought to look at the expiration date on that lasagna…!"

"Jeez, maybe we ought to fetch a nurse or something." Giro mumbled as Rayleigh pulled the keycard swiped it, opening the cell door with a click. Nick stood up and turned around, wiping his mouth and looking at them with bloodshot eyes.

Rayleigh's lip curdled as he saw a tiny fragment of a carrot nestled into the fur below the foxes lip. As he and Giro walked, the camel tried to keep his distance from Nick.

"No, I need to tell you all that I know. Besides, I think it's alright now," Nick said and walked between them, only to suddenly put his paw over his mouth and bulging his cheeks. He grabbed the terrified Rayleigh by the uniform and turned to face him, letting out an audible and very convincing gagging sound. "Guess not…!"

The camel shrieked in disgust and pushed the fox away from him. That's when Nick made his move, darting out off the cell, turning, slamming the door shut and then using a very familiar looking keycard to shut the door right in the faces of the shocked officers.

Rayleigh looked down in disbelief at his hoofed hand; he had been holding the keycard the entire time, how come he hadn't noticed when it was taken from him?!

"WILDE!" Giro yelled and banged at the bars. "YOU'LL BE IN FOR A SHIT-STORM OF TROUBLE IF YOU WON'T LET US OUT IMMEDIATELY!"

"Nothing personal guys, but I'm not about to play sitting duck while my partner's in trouble." Nick said, placing the card in his back pocket.

Rushing out of the cellblock, Nick stopped on his way to the nearest fire-exit to sneak into the janitor's closet and grab a pair of work overalls (which luckily enough fit him) and a mop in order to add to the disguise. Walking quickly with the mop flung over his shoulder and a pulled down cap, several officers passed him without giving him too much attention, something he believed had something to do with his comparatively diminutive stature.

"Nick?"

Nick froze in his steps and looked up. It was Clawhauser.

"What are you doing?" The large cheetah asked in a low voice while throwing a cautious look over his shoulder. "You shouldn't be here! This will just make the situation worse, besides, y-you know we all want to find Judy!"

"I know C, but Carrots needs me. Besides, I can go and ask questions at places where you guys can't." Nick whispered and looked his friend right in the eye. His grip around the mop tightened. "Are you going to try and stop me?"

Clawhauser stared at the fox before giving off a soft sigh.

"I'll say I was on my lunch break and didn't see you, but please, do find Judy and bring her back safely… The area around the fire-escape is crowded, but you can get out through the impound lot."

Giving him a nod, Nick then left and hurried toward the suggested location. Arriving at the impound lot, Nick looked around. If he were going to find Judy, getting a set of wheels would make things considerably easier. Looking around, the fox's gaze stopped at a familiar-looking sports car and a smile started to spread across his muzzle.

"Flash-Flash, hundred yard dash, you never let me down~" Nick murmured as he made his way towards the vehicle. Popping up one of his claws, he fumbled with the lock until he heard a soft click. "What do you know? Still got it."

Climbing inside, Nick popped the dashboard open and fiddled with the wires until the engine came to life with a roar. Putting the pedal to the metal, he then sped out of the impound lot. Looking at himself in the rearview mirror, Nick pondered that he couldn't go around the city dressed like this or he might just stick out too much. But since he couldn't go back to his old place, and going to his mom was out of the question, he instead decided to go to his old backup place, where he always used to go when the heat was on his old hustling days.

* * *

The place in question was located near the harbor, in the shadow of large, trafficked bridge. It was an old amusement park that had been locked down and left to gather dust since the late 60's, called Wild Times.

Parking the car near the entrance, Nick stepped out and looked up. A very old, rust-riddled sign depicting a smiling kit with a thumbs up was located at the locked and chained gate, where big letters that had once spelled the park's full name within a black speech-bubble had fallen off or become stolen.

A strange sense of nostalgia washed over him, as he recalled the time when had tried to gather enough money to buy the park and clean it up, re-name it Wilde Times and make a real establishment out of it.

However, something always came between him and that ambition, so he simply gave up on it to focus on smaller and safer jobs. Back in his hustling days Nick would come here with Finnick and stash various kinds of merchandize, or just get drunk and bring some girls, testing their sense of adventure by going third base atop the Roar-A-Coaster.

Getting through the gate with relative ease, Nick approached an old looking trailer. He opened the door, which to his surprise came off its hinges. Putting the door aside, the fox stepped inside the trailer, where everything seemed like it had been frozen in time since the last time he was there. He saw an old mattress with it's stuffing leaking out, a writing-desk with a broken mirror, boxes of bootleg items which he had never ended up selling, and a large wardrobe. Sighing a little, Nick went over to the closet. He soon replaced the janitor clothes with a white shirt, a black tie and an old gray jacket complete with matching gray pants. Not bothering to adjust the tie, Nick then dug trough his jacket's right pocket and produced a small notebook from it; just what he was looking for. He quickly browsed trough it until he found the needed name. Placing the notebook back in his pocket, he ten went over to a flea-bitten old carpet in the corner of the trailer. Pulling it away, he then kneeled down and removed a loose section of the floor.

He smiled triumphantly; his hidden treasure had not been disturbed.

* * *

About an hour later, Nick was sitting in Flash's car with the window rolled down, carefully studying the house before his eyes.

It was a fairly worn-looking house, it's unkempt lawn littered with street looking thug types, with the rising sun it was almost giving it a strange Michael Bay feeling, only thing that was missing was a chopper flying in slow motion over the house, maybe some police sirens in the distance. Stepping out, Nick made his way toward the house. It didn't take long before he found his path blocked by a panda with a tank top and a pair of big, tattoo-patterned arms.

"I'm here to see Midnight," Nick muttered. The panda studied him with a skeptical look before turning around and escorting the fox inside.

Inside, Nick saw more of the same gang members, most of them drinking, smoking weed or playing video games, a lot of them doing so while having their free hands down some lady-friend's blouse.

Making his way up to the second floor, Nick then entered a fairly large room and then spotted the lemur that he had come for.

He looked like he was roughly in his forties, wearing a dented top hat and a very old coat and leaning back in a large and comfy chair. There were other thugs in the room whom were all busy doing their own things on both sides of the lemur.

Spotting Nick, Midnight flashed a crooked smile as he gestured for Nick to come closer.

"Nick, hail up. What brings a bagowire like I-yah to ma' gully? You have nerve to bring I-yah rasshole to ma' big yard" Midnight said as Nick came up to him. "I-man heard I-yah be workin' for the whole Babylon system mon."

"Tch, just trying to become a better person, Midnight, not that I'd expect you to understand." Nick said, his eyes narrowing a little bit. "Listen, I came here for a favor. A friend of mine has gone missing, and I know you got your ears in all corners of this town."

The lemur smirked and adjusted his top hat. Nick's ear flickered as he heard some of the thugs moving in the background and the door behind him getting locked.

"I-yah right, I-man knowing somethin'. But, I-yah forgettin how I-yah stole some cheddar and high grade from ma' rude bwoy." Midnight said, shaking his head. "I-yah have to understand, I-man cannot forget such stuff, or ma'thug skulls won't respect me as a Don Dada, and I-man had to a lot to reach this level of Big Bout yah."

Looking over his shoulder, Nick noticed the thugs starting to loom over him in a threatening manner. He looked back at Midnight with an annoyed expression, who was busy tapping his little fingers together.

"Midnight, you're making a big mistake." Before Nick could finish the lemur raised his paw and shook his head.

"No sah, looks like ya already made ah big mistake yah-self. Oi, ya thug skulls teach this fox a lesson, an dun' be shy about quaff him." Midnight said, which made Nick sigh as the fox stood up and turned around.

"So, guess we're going to do this the hard way…" Nick muttered and calmly opened his jacket.

Judy let out groan as she began to awaken; her head was feeling two sizes too small for her brain, and the air she breathed felt hot and heavy like in a sauna. Then her ears twitched as she heard the low sound of someone singing.

 _"No wealth, no land_

 _No silver, no gold_

 _Nothing satisfy's me but your soul_

 _I'm Death_

 _I come to take the soul"_

Coughing and smacking a bone-dry mouth, Judy slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a fairly small apartment, which seemed to be just slightly bigger than Judy's own place with two rooms.

There was a major lack of furniture, not counting the bed on which Judy had her foot handcuffed to. Also next to it stood a lone suitcase, a small coffee table with a wooden chair, along with two working fans and an air conditioner, which looked like it was twice as old as the bunny.

Judy's ears focused on the melody, which was coming from the second room. Soon enough a figure stepped into the room and the bunny's eyes went wide. Before her was the very same ocelot she fought in Honey's lab, the one who had injured all her fellow officers, and the one who had framed Nick, she was in the same room with her. Moving away according to instinct, Judy found herself painfully reminded of the fact that her foot was cuffed, and very tightly so.

Looking at this, the ocelot rolled her eyes as she approached her captive and sat a small tray on the table, along with a bottle of water, during which Judy could see how one of her arms were heavily bandaged.

"You may want to drink this. This heat is not going away any time soon," Alexis murmured before smiling at Judy. "Don't worry, the water isn't poisoned~"

Glaring at the ocelot, Judy still reached for the bottle, opened it and took a few deep gulps. As the cold water went through her body, the bunny began to cool down and relax. Putting the bottle back on the table, Judy looked back at Alexis, who still smiled at her in a friendly way.

Then, Judy remembered what had transpired before she had lost consciousness.

"Moony…! So he was your inside contact, wasn't he?"

At first Alexis looked like she had no idea what Judy was talking about, but then she got a look of realization and let out a little laugh.

"So that's what he's calling himself? Heh, he's not very creative with his names, but I guess if you're that good with disguises, it hardly matters what you call yourself."

"Where am I?" Judy then asked, not expecting a clear answer, though the heat was already an obvious giveaway.

"Sahara Square, that's all you're going to get~" The ocelot replied, crossing her palms together "As for what I, or rather we, are going to do to you, you'll just have to wait and see. Now… Any other questions before I leave?"

"Yeah…" Judy asked and scanned the ocelot with a suspicious look. "What do you have against me and Nick?"

"Nothing really… It's mostly business-related. I'm pretty sure that both uncle Kozlov and Mr. Big informed you about my profession," Alexis replied. "To be honest, I kind of увожаю (respect) you and your foxy partner. While I was in France I heard of you during the Night-howler incident. I found it impressive how you could come back from making such clumsy statements and then simply save the day. Quite an applaud worthy thing I must say."

"Getting compliments from a cold hearted psychopath is hardly flattering." Judy grumbled, which got a soft laugh from the ocelot.

"'Psychopath'…! I don't think I've earned that title. Real psychopaths gain pleasure from the horrible things they do, I on the other hand feel nothing."

"Could have fooled me with all murders you committed in some twisted fashion." Judy fired back as she pulled on the cuff on her foot. "I read your file, and all I can say is that you're splitting hairs. You're a textbook nut-job if I ever saw one!"

Looking at her in silence, Alexis smile dimmed a little.

"You know what the difference between you and me is?" She suddenly asked, making the bunny raise an eyebrow. Before she could give any snarky retort though, the ocelot suddenly pulled out a revolver from inside her suit. Spinning the chamber, she then pointed the gun at Judy, making the bunny's heart stop.

"You're scared of смерти (death)… You may act all tough, but you are still scared, because you feel that if you died, you would fail everyone and make everyone sad; Your friends, your co-workers, your family, your… precious fox. Plus, you also feel that you would regret being unable to fulfill your duty." Alexis explained softly, before pulling back the hammer of the gun and then aiming it at her temple. "Me on the other hand…."

"WAIT DO-" Judy yelled as she realized what she was about to do, but was interrupted as the trigger got squeezed and nothing but a small click escaped the gun. Judy stared at the ocelot and blinked. The assassin hadn't even flinched.

"… Not so much… You know why? Because nobody will cry for me, nobody will miss me. In fact, I'd say there will be probably a lot of people who will be happy to know that a person like me will be gone." She purred, tapping the gun against her forehead. "And before you think this isn't loaded…" Spinning the chamber again, she then aimed at the air conditioner and fired, putting the damn thing out of its misery with a loud bang that prompted Judy to cover her over-sensitive ears.

Looking at Alexis, the bunny didn't know what to say. The ocelot was clearly deranged, though not in the aggressive, erratic way like the Leerdon brothers. This person was detached and focused, an animal that seemed to live up to the worst fears that any pre-conceptive prey might imagine when thinking of a predator, being both lethal and unfeeling.

Blowing away the smoke from the gun, Alexis then looked at her watch and gave off a whistle. "Seems like I can't play anymore right now." She then put the gun back inside her suit and grabbed her suitcase. "You will be given enough food and water to sustain yourself each day, though not very much… I am guessing that my employer does like the idea of starving you a little, just for the fun of it. That kind of petty sadism isn't my kind of thing though, so some other guys will watch you while I'm gone. Also, I'd advice you on not trying to escape. If that gunshot should tell you something, then it's that this is not the kind of surroundings where calling for help will be of any use. Besides, these are not nice people who will be watching you; they might just be waiting for an excuse to yank one of your feet off to keep as a good luck charm."

After saying this, the feline stood up and made her way towards the door.

"You really have no-one?" Judy asked all of a sudden, making Alexis stop and look back. The bunny officer tilted her head, almost resembling a small child who was looking for answers with an adult. "Nobody who'll miss you?"

Looking away, Alexis went trough her memory bank. The image of the caracal entered her mind, but she quickly pushed that thought away. He was in love with the persona she had created, not her.

Turning her head back, she flashed her usual sweet smile, which to Judy now began to resemble some weird mask.

"Nope. That's how I've lived, and that's how I'll die." She purred, though this to started to sound synthetic.

"That sounds so sad and lonely…" Judy said. The tone in her voice was now different from before, and so was her eyes, looking at the hired gun with a visible amount of sympathy. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Alexis eyes narrowed, and a flicker of intense animosity suddenly made itself known in her face. The ocelot did not care for this at all.

"Иди нахуй (go fuck yourself)… I never asked for your pity… I have no need for it!" The ocelot said, and she then opened the door and then slammed it really hard after herself, leaving Judy all alone.

* * *

"Jessum peace!" Midnight exclaimed as he looked at what Nick was holding in his paw. "Is that what I-man think it is?"

"It is," Nick said as he placed rectangle-shaped plastic box on the table. "Action 52, original package with only minor surface damages." Midnight gestured towards his thugs to back off, which they did, and then carefully grabbed the box. "The worst NES-game ever, but also, as you should know, one of the rarest and therefore most valuable," Nick continued as the lemur examined the old game, confirming every word which he had said.

"How did I-yah get a hold of this?"

"That's my little secret," the fox replied with a superior grin. "All you need to know is that there's more where that came from. I have in my possession at least a dozen different Chinese bootleg toys, seven limited edition cereal boxes of Lucky Chomps from the 70's and 80's, and a couple of rare VHS-copies of The Silent War. It may not be cocaine, but as you know, for your average collector these rare items are pretty much as precious as gold." Then, Nick pointed at the game in Midnight's fingers. "You may keep that one so that you can properly authenticate it. Heck, you can keep it as the first half of our agreement, cause if you help me, I'll give you the rest for free. Does this sound agreeable to you?"

"Yah man…W-Whatever I-yah wants, I-man will get it for ya frien'!" Midnight whispered holding the copy of Action 52 high in the air with a look of awe.

"Great, now, tell me did you hear anything about a grey bunny being spotted anywhere? Or a female ocelot wearing a suit?" Nick asked, his foot impatiently tapping under the table.

"Mmmm… No-sah man, I-man haven't heard of any bunny-gyal… However…" Midnight went silent as he rubbed his chin in thought. "I-man was told by one of me rude bwoy's how dis goodaz-ocelot and some funky rams threw some cheddar around and bought some of mi ol'crack houses in da gully. Didn't say what they were gonna with it, but as long as I-man got mi cheddar I-man didn't see no reason to snoop on their business."

"Really now?" Nick said with interest. "And where are these buildings?"


	14. Chapter 14: Happy Face

_Authors note:_ _Hey boys and girls! I'm back once again, I do bring deepest apologize for not having anything back in February. So, to make up for it I'm currently writing two more chapters of the Rabbiting and well I do hope this one will be also good. Frankly, I was always worried whenever I write such chapters, dunno why...Just kinda do. Anyway! Hope you enjoy and well criticism and everything else is always welcomed!_

* * *

Chapter 14: Happy Face

The blazing sun was over Sahara Square, bathing the vast desert zone in its daily dose of scorching heat. For most animals, this would be the literal depiction of hell, but for the indigenous population, it was just the right stuff. Of course, the zone weren't just composed of barren sands, as it had plenty of rest stops (who in keeping with the Square's general image looked and awful lot like oases) that were meant for travelers to cool off and recharge their batteries at.

Near one of these was a parked muscle car, and next to it was the lone figure of an ocelot. She was currently occupied with adjusting the scope on a sniper rifle, the song "Sympathy for the Devil" playing out loud from the inside of her car; a choice of song that she found kind of ironic.  
Taking a deep breath, she then took aim and pulled the trigger, blasting one of one of the many target dummies she had set up in the far distance to pieces.  
This was her way of dealing with stress, a rare occasion all on its own, as she couldn't recall the last time she had done this. However, right now she wasn't much as stressed as she was concerned, and it wasn't about the job. As far as she saw it, things seemed to be progressing just like how her employee had wanted, so what was bothering her?  
Maybe it was just the feeling that this job was starting to become boring. Lowering her rifle and narrowing her eyes a little, Alexis then took aim once more as her mind started to drift.

When she was but a child she had been told that her eyes looked different, that they were scary and lacked the "color" you'd see in most children's eyes. Pale blue eyes were rare among ocelots, and from what she had gathered, people thought that it made her face look dim and almost hollow.  
Just for that she had been constantly made fun off by other children her age, sometimes even beaten up for it.  
One time when she had come back home with a bleeding lip, her old man given her a disdainful look and told her that she shouldn't take crap from a few punks, and unless she enjoyed beatings, she should do something about it.  
A young Alexis had taken these words to heart, vividly recalling how she had bent the fingers of one particular bully backward until they had snapped like candy canes. Boy did this make him scream!  
Yet, the little ocelot didn't feel any satisfaction for defeating her foe. In fact, she felt nothing at all. The injured kid and the other children began to yell at her, saying what a horrible creature she was and that she should die. This was the first time that Alexandra could recall herself wondering. Maybe she should die?  
She had asked her old man about that the very same night. Her father, the delightful individual that he was, had ordered her to never think of such things again, right before painfully reprimanding her by pulling down the back of her pants and spanking her bottom red with a shoehorn.  
As long as that stinging pain had clung to her, the thought that her father had tried to chastise out of her clung ever longer, and as she grew older, she would on occasion return to that general idea. If she didn't feel anything about anything, then what was the point of it? And if she should die, then the question was how.  
Killing herself wasn't an option, not just because of the religious views she had inherited, but also because it didn't feel right. If she were to die, someone would have to kill her.  
The neighborhood she grew up in wasn't the safest by far, so the chances of dying that way seemed high enough, yet every time she found herself in a bit of trouble, she would always come out of it alive and kicking.  
As she grew, her old man repeatedly told her about the war and how many of his brothers in arms had lost their lives, and how he himself barely lived through it. Maybe that was why she thought it was the logical thing to pursue, and most likely, that was why she had signed up… Despite her father constantly telling her how the war could destroy a person's mind and soul. Needless to say, the aging ocelot didn't take kindly to this (she bet that if she was still small enough, he would have re-acquainted her with Mr. Shoehorn) and promptly disowned her. Their contact between this and his death had been strained at best, not helped by the old man's increasingly degrading mental and physical health.

Blasting another target, she popped out a fresh shell; the ocelot began to wonder why she had bothered to be by his side on his deathbed at all, or for that matter, fulfilling his last wish to have his ashes scattered in the South China Sea where many of his fellow soldiers had previously fallen. There weren't a lot of pleasant memories that she could recall about him as a father, except a handful of her earliest recollections, one of these being a mutual love for pineapple popsicles.  
Taking aim once again, her mind started to drift away again, the old Plato dripping away and being replaced with a new one.

The military wasn't easy, but she had expected as much. After all, one had to be tough if they wanted to fight and survive, but that's also where Alexis encountered one particularly stupid CO who had put the moves on her. She was ashamed at the memory of falling for this and actually losing her virginity to that disgusting shit-eater, as she had found out that he was a married man and that she had just been some side dish. After repaying him by breaking his jaw, Alexis got herself a beating by him in return, suffering a couple of cracked ribs and a mild concussion, made all the more painful on account of him now having owned her in more ways than one.

That was why she did not like getting touched.

After that whole ordeal, nobody dared to approach her, but the CO didn't leave things hanging and made sure that she'd always get the short end of the stick and get assigned to the suicide missions, not knowing that he was practically giving her an early birthday present.  
But she lived through every mission. Of course she'd receive injuries during battle, but in the grand scheme of things she would still survive and end up completing her task. While her companions would always congratulate her and claim how she was blessed with luck, Alexis would start to think that she wasn't meant to die on the battlefield like she had initially thought, or simply that her enemies weren't strong enough.

When her last tour was approaching she had gotten really bored of the military and was more than ready to leave. But the CO wasn't about to let her go that easy, and one night on the training grounds of the army base; he had turned up to challenge her to a so-called "fair" fight. However, he hadn't counted on the fact that this was not the same greenhorn that he had taken advantage of in the beginning, but a full-fledged career soldier. Even with a knife to help him, the snow leopard had been an easy match for the ocelot. He had even begged and cried for mercy as Alexis had pressed his own knife pressed against his throat. At that moment, the ocelot had felt something: a strong tinge of disgust and anger. This person had gone out of his way to make things a living hell for her and was now grovelling before her and crying like a little cub. She just left, figuring that he wasn't even worth to kill.

Another shot, this one actually missing its target making her curse under her breath and look at her bandaged up hand, seeing how it trembled a little. She narrowed her eyes as she shook her palm and tried to take aim while thinking of other things.

After the military, she didn't do many major things; instead, she just drifted around as a freelancer and did whatever jobs she could manage.  
During one of these gigs, she had actually ended up saving the life of a kid, who had turned out to be the son of the local bratva, who's old man had then invited Alexis to join his crew. She was initially reluctant but had then realized that if she joined, she'd probably find her end in a possible gang shootout or fighting the police.  
When she was part of the bratva, she would hear the familiar whispers of how her face seemed blank and emotionless, like the eerily life-like features of a doll. It was the leader's son, the big brother of the kid she had saved, a corsac fox named Kolia, had told her that she should try to smile more and act polite, as it would make people more comfortable around her, not to mention highlight her cuteness. So, that's what she had been doing since, wearing her "happy face" anywhere she went.

Kolia and his father Vladimir was an odd bunch, the older fox being part of the "old ways" and always following them to the letter.  
Kolia had been more of a rebel with a strange love for fancy clothes and historical weapons, his weapon of choice having been a C96 Mauser. His rebellious streak had occasionally gotten him into many sticky situations, from which his father would occasionally bail him out of. Alexis soon ended up as his personal guardian, in order to make sure that he was kept safe and in check. The young man treated her very kindly and with respect, but sadly enough, their friendship had ended in a… Tragic manner. His main weakness was that he suffered from extreme substance abuse, which more than often led to his erratic behavior. During one his many parties, he had under the influence of some obscure drug killed the niece of another bratva boss, who was a long-time friend of Vladimir and a most beneficial associate. Not wishing to break this partnership, the old fox decided to sacrifice his oldest son, with Alexis acting the triggerman.

She recalled that cold winter night, her coat fluttering in the wind as both she and Kolia faced each other. As Alexis explained what she was about to do, he didn't try to run away or beg for mercy. He just accepted his fate. She had even offered him a fair chance to fight back, but he had turned it down.

The only thing he had asked for was that she would keep her smile.

But, now everything was different, twice she has shown her real emotions, and twice her "happy face" has cracked. Firing another shot at a target, Alexis bit her lower lip as she popped out another shell. This was not sitting well with her, and now she just wished this job would end faster so that she could follow Kozlov's advice and leave the city, as it was becoming abundantly clear that she wasn't going to find her death here. As she was about to fire again, her phone beeped. Pulling it out, she saw it was a message from Christopher.

"Hey there, got the snacks and movies ready. When will you be over?" The text asked.

Staring down at the screen, Alexis sighed and began to disassemble her weapon, not bothering to text him back. Putting the rifle back into her suitcase, she then began to drive away while thinking of the caracal. What was she going to do with him? She could keep on lying to him and pretend that she was Sally Babou, the innocent lawyer next door, but this didn't feel right. Maybe it would be best if she just left without a word.

You can just kill him… Her inner voice said. Just make it look like an accident or suicide, after that you can just leave

"But what about his family?" Alexis asked herself as she turned the wheel.

What about them? How many of your victims do you think were without family? Why should you treat this guy any differently?

There was truth in those words. She had killed many people, most of whom did have families, so what made the caracal different? It couldn't be because he was a civilian; she had killed those before whenever the occasion had called for it, so why did she feel so reluctant about this?

Snapping out of her thoughts, she saw that she had arrived back to her apartment block. After parking the car and moving inside the building, she took the elevator up to her floor and contemplated on what to do… No, she couldn't just kill the caracal. Instead, she would apologize and say that he was wrong about the idea that she had a "thing" for him, that she shouldn't have encouraged him to think so and that it was all just a mistake. It sounded simple… For crying out loud, she had dodged bullets and sown wounds together on the battlefield, this should be easy!

Hearing the elevator ding, she made her way towards his apartment door. Taking a deep breath, she then knocked on it gently, her ears twitching as it opened with a few clicks. Chris appeared in the doorway, and when he saw who it was, he smiled widely, his eyes practically shining with joy from seeing Alexis, which made the ocelot feel another pang of self-loathing for using this sweet kid.

"Hey there, I was about to text you again," Chris said as he adjusted his glasses. "Sorry if I sound annoying, I just… You know…"

"Hey, it's all хорошо (fine) " Alexis said softly, as she waved it off with her bandaged hand. "Listen, I just wanted to apologize for…."

"What happened to your hand?" He suddenly asked, interrupting her. "Did… Did someone hurt you?"

"Oh, this? Oh, it's nothing important, just got injured at work." Alexis said casually. She noticed though how the caracal's expression changed; looking very upset all of a sudden. "Is something wrong, Christopher?"

"You bet something is wrong. Injured at work? I am no fool, Sally," the caracal said in a tone of voice that actually sounded angry. "I know how that happened, and how you got that head injury from before."

Hearing that, Alexis felt her heart actually stop while her back went cold. How could he know?! She was always so careful to make sure she came off as a normal person, plus if he really knew, did that mean that he would report her to the cops? Maybe he already had…!

You know what you need to do… Her inner voice said again Now you even have a good excuse, so go on, snap his fucking neck…

"Christopher… I … I can explain…" Alexis whispered, trying to compose herself, but once again she was interrupted.

"What is there to explain? I've seen it before: hiding your wounds, disappearing when the phone calls, making up excuses…! The only thing that puzzles me is why you keep going back to that bastard if he does this to you?!" Christopher exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

Blinking, Alexis stared at Chris, dumbfounded. Then she began to realize what he was implying: He actually thought that she was in some abusive relationship, which made her heart calm down somewhat. Exhaling softly, Alexis smiled a little as she was about to explain, but was interrupted once again as Christopher didn't seem like he was about to stop for anything.

"Sally, you don't deserve this abuse! You're a good and sweet girl, I know it's none of my business but…. It's not right to see such a sweet person like you go through something like this." He whispered softly, and then carefully placed his hands on her shoulders. "Please, just let me help you."

Hearing this left the ocelot even more stunned than before. She could tell that me he meant it, every single word. A strange and painful sensation was building up in her chest, as she was simply at a loss of what she should do right now. Her mind was a whirlwind of anger, sorrow, hate, joy and even despair and confusion. Her inner voice echoed saying how she should get out of there or snuff out the caracal, and yet… Something else was building inside her body. Something that felt familiar and yet very alien to her.

"S-Sally?" Christopher whispered looking very worried by how silent the female has fallen, and then looked increasingly puzzled as the ocelot placed her paws on his neck. "Are you ok-Mhhhp?!"

His eyes went as wide as saucers as Alexis pressed her lips against his and closed her eyes. Muffling some more, the caracal's eyes then closed as well, his arms wrapping around the ocelot as the two carefully stepped inside the apartment and the door closed behind them. At that moment, Alexis didn't know what she was doing or even if she was thinking straight, but for this instant, she actually felt alive.


	15. Chapter 15: Be prepared

_Authors Note:_ _So, here we are on chapter 15th! Once more thanks to my editor for fixing my mess and I hope you peeps enjoy it, while I scurry off to write ch.16 and other projects!_

 _Zootopia - Disney_

 _Story - & me_

Chapter 15: Be Prepared

* * *

There was at least one thing that Nicholas Wilde wasn't, and that was a fool. He was sly, well mannered, a smooth talker and (as supported by his mother at least) handsome to a fault. He knew that the guys who was holding Judy hostage were going to be armed and plentiful; they wouldn't have bought an entire crack house, full of blank spots and ambush-worthy locations, otherwise.  
However, if there was another thing that Nicholas wasn't, it was an action hero. While he indisputably would go trough hell itself to make sure Judy or anyone else that he held close was safe, he also understood he was by no means a John Hambo or Clint Eequswood. Judy was often the one who'd handle those situations, he on the other hand had the skill of suavity, to get under a perp's skin and know the inner workings of the street, because he'd knew it in and out. But now that Judy was missing, he would have to take a few steps that were a bit out of his character, and to do that; he would need some extra hands and some firepower to level the playing field.

When it came to obtaining said firepower, he was currently sitting inside Flash's car, which was parked outside an old car workshop. Munching on some fries, the vulpine eyed the building before him. It looked like an old, almost rundown workshop on the surface, but Nick knew from past experiences that it was also Freddy's gun shop and a chop shop on the side. Finishing his snack, Nick got out of the car and made his way towards the building. Fishing trough the pockets of his suit, he then pulled out an old key and stuck into the door, and after some twisting and turning, the door clicked open to the fox great surprise.

"Huh, guess he never bothered to change the locks," Nick commented as he opened the door and stepped inside.

Inside, his nostrils were quickly assaulted with the smells of gasoline, car paint, rubber and car oil, making him slightly woozy and bringing him a strange sense of nostalgia from the days he regularly visited this joint. His ears also registered what sounded like loud rock music coming from the right, which brought a smile to his face, as it could only mean one thing. Following the sound he soon came across a small radio that rested on a tool tray, which stood next to a sports car with it's hood popped open. A reddish-brown bushy tail was sticking out of it, which promoted Nick to smirk and lean against a nearby stack of tires. The owner of said body parts, a female squirrel in dark blue overalls and a grey kepi, straightened herself and grabbed the lid of the hood before slamming it down. It was difficult to pin point her age, given that squirrels always looked younger than they actually was, but Nick knew that she was approximately 22. Clearly unaware of the foxes presence, the squirrel pulled up a small monkey wrench from the tool kit and began to sing ad-libbed sections of the song playing on the radio, just as it was approaching it's end.

 _"Life is an open road,_  
 _It's the best story never told,_  
 _It's an endless sky; it's the deepest sea_  
 _Life is an open road to me_  
 _Life is an open road to ME!"_

As the song ended, the squirrel girl bowed to a imaginative audience, even blowing a few kisses in it's imagined direction, only to go as stiff as a board when she heard actual clapping coming from behind. Turning around, she dropped her wrench as she saw Nick applauding her slowly.

"I see you still haven't given up on your music-career," Nick murmured. "Still wearing those cute overalls too~"

"NICKY!" She yelled out as she ran across the car, jumped off its roof and straight into Nick's chest with all the swiftness her body allowed. The hug only lasted for a few short moments though as Nick was just as swiftly slapped across the face. "Where have ya been, ya chowdahead! Ya know I missed yiz mush!"

"Oh come on Chewy, I was kinda busy you know." Nick responded, rubbing his cheek while the squirrel did a fancy black flip as she landed on the cars roof again, giving him grumpy look.

"Humph, likely story ya igit, you just forgot about me! Admit it! And it's not Chewy, it's Barbara!" She muttered and to looked away with her arms crossed, right before looking over her shoulder and in the snap of a second changed her expression and flashed him a grin. "Calm your liver, Nicky. I know yiz've been a busy boy. I've seen yiz driving that fancy cruiser of yours. Yiz SO gotta tell me what type of engine that baby runs on."

Nick let out a chuckle and waved his hand casually. For as long as he known the squirrel, she had always been crazy for cars or engines, not to mention old school rock'n roll and street racing.  
Sliding off the car, she approached Nick with a mischievous look and grabbed his hand, in a gesture that seemed a little more than just friendly.

"It really is nice to see you again though… Really missed your sexy butt, and me likey what your time in cop-school have done to your arms…!" She said and gave his forearm a playful squeeze, which made Nick feel a little uncomfortable. "You want something to drink or… something to nibble on? I got a few grinders and tonics down back."

Nick gave of a nervous laughter. Back in the day when she had been a teenager, Barbara's little crush on him had been cute, but now it seemed like it had mutated into something far more… Alarming.

"Ehehehe…! As delicious as that sounds Chew- I mean Barbara, I actually came here to see Freddy," Nick said as he gently removed the girl's hands from his arm, noticing an expression of slight disappointment in her face. "If he's at home that is."

Barbara emitted a frustrated groan, which was an expected reaction on Nick's part. Barbara had worked for Freddy since she was 17, and had during her time there earned a reputation of being easy, which had lead to the coyote at one time famously referring to her as "chew toy", which in turn had prompted the squirrel to nearly chew the coyote's face off. This was the reason why she was called "Chewy".

"Yeah, that bozo is here; he's down in the cellar." Barbara said and went over to a mini fridge, popping it open and pulling out a soda bottle fit for her size. "That igit also told me that yiz bagged his ride, if yiz know what's good for ya yiz'll make sure that beauty isn't busted, right?"

"Of course Barb… Listen, while I talk to Freddy, how about you go and fix up the ride I got outside." Nick said, dangling the car keys in front of her nose. "It belongs to Flash, so I think you already know what's under the hood."

Hearing that, Barbara squealed in delight and grabbed the keys.

"No-suh Nicky! Ooooh, I've been dying to see what makes that beauty tick!"

Watching her scurry off with the keys, Nick exhaled in relief. He felt like he could've used a cold shower, but there was no time for that, so he made his way down to the basement. Once there, he found his path blocked by a fairly large metallic door. The fox knocked several times on it and placed his left ear at it. Hearing the approach of footsteps, he pulled back as several locks clicked in place and the door opened. Standing in the doorway, Freddy wore a simple white wife beater and some torn jeans, his fur in a mess and with a black pair of shades covering his eyes. Staring at Nick, the coyote pulled his upper lip back and gave the fox a disdainful look.

"What ya wan'ya babblin' brook? Ya already took ma'stuff and ma'Andrew Marr, had to take a soddin'Andy McNab and then had Chewy chew my lords and peers fer that" He muttered, and Nick felt the smell of liquor coming from the guys mouth. "So make it fast, I've got a bad bend over…"

"I need some help, Fred; a friend of mine is in trouble." Nick muttered, not wishing to say it was Judy.

Hearing that made Freddy raise his eyebrow as he then leaned against the side of the door, lowering his shades enough to showcase his red eyes.

"And why should I care? Yer a bottle so got to yer gareth gates for help. Why come to me ya Charlie Ronce," Freddy spat out. While the fox mentally tried to keep calm, he then spotted a glimmer in Freddy's eyes as his brain was putting together a picture or what he thought was the full picture. "Wait…Don' tell me…Cheese and Rice! Yer not with those cozzer's are ya?!"

"Humph, I see someone's a pretty clever type." Nick said, huffing as he crossed his hands, while tilting his head to the side "Yeah, I currently have issues with my buddies in the ZPD, so this is off the books. That's why I'm here, so are you going to help me or not?"

"Mmmm…that depends Nicky. First, do you have any dosh on you, and second, will this come back to bite me in the arse?" Freddy asked while he casually inspected his claws. "I don' care what you're cloankilty fer or what coat hanger you've done, I just care that I don't end up in the rusty nail."

Rolling his eyes, Nick then dug into his suits inner pocket and produced a rolled up wad of bills that he pushed into the coyote's open hand. Inspecting the wad, the coyote quickly pocketed it away.

"You'll get that, and your car back by the end of it." Nick said, then before Freddy could say another word he added: "But I can't give you the merchandise back Freddy, so you'll just have to settle with not having your name mentioned once all of this is done."

"Hrm…If ya cocoa Empire, c'mon step inside my lollipop, want a pint of mellor?" Freddy asked, leading Nick inside the room.

"Nah, I'm good."

As they stepped inside, the fox couldn't help but to cringe. He himself was never much of a neat freak, but compared to Freddy's place, Nick's apartment was practically sterile-clean. The room had all sorts of trash thrown around; empty liquor bottles, old ammo crates, discarded ammo clips, old pizza boxes and other garbage littered the floor, an old record player in the corner was playing some kind of rockabilly cheese, and the walls were decorated with tattered Elvis-posters. "No wonder Barb wouldn't respond to his early courting attempts", Nick thought. Frankly, he was surprised that the female squirrel hadn't reported this room as a contaminated area.

Passing by a coffee table, Freddy grabbed a half-empty beer bottle and took a few gulps from it, as they went further and arrived in another, darkened room. The coyote flipped the lights on, and exposed a sight that nearly made Nick's jaw drop; all three walls of the room was covered with rows and rows of guns in all the conceivable shapes, sizes and calibers. Looking back at Freddy, Nick couldn't think of anything to say for a few seconds, before finally swallowing and speaking up.

"What… No tanks or naval mines?" He asked which promoted Freddy to laugh and take another sip.

"I doubt you have any fluffy bunny fer that gate, so Kate Carney won't give me one." Freddy murmured, as he made his way inside the room with Nick following after him. "An judging by the fiber of your fabric, I doubt you can even afford yerself anything heavy, and I doubt you can go to the fish tank."

Freddy wasn't wrong on that part, but then again Nick wasn't about to start a frickin' war or anything. Going trough the rows and looking through the content like shelves at Toys R Us, the vulpine then stopped to grab a Glock 17, two 1911 MC Operators, one SG 552 Commando, one FN Scar-H and finally a SPAS-12. Putting the weapons on the table before Freddy, Nick looked on in silence as the coyote flashed a smirk and began to produce the ammo for said weapons, and then changed his expression to a cockier one once he was done.

"You want the stuff gift-wrapped?" He asked, crossing his fingers together while looking at Nick from underneath his forehead.

"No, but I wouldn't mind some flash bangs if you got some lying around." Nick murmured, as he popped a clip into the SG and checked the sights. "And some smoke grenades just in case."

"Left crate got plenty of them smoky sons of bitches." Freddy replied as he reclined back on his couch while eyeing the fox. "So, how did your nun and habit got herself captured?"

"What makes you think it was her?" Nick asked, as he dug trough the crate. "You act like I don't have many friends, Freddy."

"Nicky, you can drop tellin' me Porkies." Freddy replied, removing his shades and rubbing his eyes "Let's be honest, amon' yer number of gates, ya have only a handful, the most likely being Chewy and Finnick. Last time I checked, Chewy could hold 'er own, and Finn usually can break some scotch pegs, despite him not looking like he can."

This time Nick didn't even bother to answer as he placed a couple of grenades on the table and handing the coyote another wad of cash. In return he was handed a duffel bag with which to pack all of his buying's.

"Shabba ranks gate this will fund my eventual Shawshank redemption, pleasure doing business with ya." The coyote murmured, as he watched Nick pack the guns and head off. "Spanish Waiter Nicky, be sure not to brow bread, I'll even weaver fer ya~"

Looking back, the fox smiled.

"Why Freddy, I never knew you cared about so much about wittle ol'me, I'm touched!" Nick gave a fake exclamation of surprise and even bowed to the coyote.

"Oh piss off you strawberry split, just if you a corpse covered in roy hudd, Chewy will just pipe her eyes out." The coyote murmured while rolling his eyes "That ocean pearl never got over her crush fer ya~"

Hearing that, Nick gave off a faint sigh and went up the stairs. Back at the workshop, he saw that Barbara was already digging trough Flash's engine. Approaching her, the vulpine cleared his throat to get the squirrel's attention, which made her get from underneath the hood, her chocolate brown eyes practically sparkling with excitement.

"Nick, this car is simply wicked! The engine is the balls!" She added, clearly wanting to return to it. "Can I keep it for a while? I'll be sure to give it back to Flash in prime condition, even if it is your d-tech!"

"Heh, how about this Barb, you can have the car if you'll let me to use your phone to make a call" Nick said, as the squirrel brightened up more and pulled up her phone from the pocket of her overall and handed it to Nick. "Thanks hun," he said and tried to take it out of her hand, only to find some resistance in the girl's grip. Nick met her look, and then found himself intensely reminded of Freddy's words, as she suddenly moved so close to him that her nose nearly touched his.

"I always repay a favor Nick," she whispered teasingly. "Keep that in mind for the next time you come by." She then let go of her phone, giggled and then returned to inspecting Flash's car while Nick stood there stunned for a few seconds.

"Holy matrimony…!" He mumbled and then speedily dialed a number on the pink-colored phone, hoping he'd get a response.

* * *

Sitting in his van, Finnick was sucking on his fifth cigarette while tapping his foot somewhat impatiently. He hadn't gotten any calls from Judy since the attack on the safe house, and that was almost a day ago. Sure, he understood that the thing must've been a considerable blow to the young officer, but it still would have been nice if she had at least reported back to him and said how things were going, especially when it came to freeing Nick. Mentally cursing under his breath, Finnick pulled out the cigarette and was about to grab a fresh one when his phone suddenly started ringing. The fennec dropped the package, cursed and pulled out his phone, only to see an unknown number on it. Raising his eyebrow, he then pushed "reply".

"Oi, who the hell is this?! If this is another telemarketer so help me I'll crash my van trough your damn office!" The fennec exclaimed angrily. "And once I've rammed your damn office, I'm gonna give your wife something to hang her towels on-"

"Finn it's me, chill," a familiar voice responded, making the fennec nearly drop his phone.

"Nick? Wait, did Judy get ya out?!" Finnick asked trying to hold back a wave of joy and relief, which quickly vanished as Nick began to explain the situation to him. "… She's what?! Wait, if's she's missing…Then where are you calling from?"

Listening to his friend's further explanations, Finnick's eyes grew wider and wider, and his mouth started to silently mutter the words "you", "are", "shitting" and "me". And once Nick were finished, the fennec took a deep breath to try and calm himself.

"Nick, for all the time I've known you, you have pulled some insane crap, but this takes the goddamn cake! Are you out of your damn mind?! Do you even realize what trouble this will get ya into?!" He yelled into the phone, before groaning and rubbing his temples. "Ugh…! Wait, you know where she is? Hm.. Uh-huh? All right, where are ya then? Mmmm… Okay, I know the place; I'll be over in an hour."

Hanging up, Finnick let out a long and deep sigh and rested his aching head against the wheel. If this were any other day, the fennec would have probably said 'fuck it' and not have bothered with saving Nick's tail. But that was THEN, and NOW was the situation, which included the fact that the bunny was in trouble, which prompted him to let out another sigh, before starting his van and then drive off to pick up Nick.

Sitting inside of Finnick's van, Nick look out of the passenger window until the fennec spoke up.

"Please tell me you have a plan and not just guns." He muttered, looking back at his friend "Because if you say "we're gonna wing it" so help me I'll tie you to the front end of my van and use you as a battering ram."

"Relax Fin, I got a plan, and it's so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it Nick Jr, but we need to pick up one more persona before we do our assault." Nick murmured, and then looked back at Finnick. "Sorry for dragging you into this, man."

"Save it, if someone's going to be helping you out of a jam, might as well be me," Finnick said and pulled up another fresh smoke. "So who's this other clown we need to pick up?"

"Her name is Honey, and she's a forensic scientist at the ZPD. She's a bit of a recluse though, so I had to ask Midnight for an address." Nick said, reaching into his suit's inner pocket and handing Finnick a slip of paper.

"Midnight?! How the hell did you get him to cooperate?!" Finnick asked, nearly choking on his cigarette.

"Lets just say, I gave him an offer he couldn't refuse~" Nick murmured, fluttering his eyelashes at Finnick, which made his friend roll his eyes.

"Right… You know Nick, one of these days, that dumb luck of yours will end." Finnick stated while looking at the slip of paper "…. You sure this is the right address? Don't recall any houses in that neighborhood."

"Aye, I was surprised myself, but Midnight said this info is 100% sure, so what do we have to lose?" Nick replied and returned to looking to looking outside the window. He could see dark clouds gather in the horizon, and his ears registered low rumbles of thunder. A worrisome omen if any to complete this bizarre and suspenseful day.

Staring at Nick, Finnick shook his head and patted his friend's arm, which made Nick look back at him with surprise.

"Don't worry ya sly bastard, we'll get fluffers back, safe and sound. In fact, I pity the fools who think they can mess with her and get away with it." He said in a re-assuring tone.

* * *

The place of the address on the paper was a very desolate and borderline ancient army base located in the tropical zone. By the looks of it, the base had been established during the second Great War, but had since apparently been abandoned and left to fall apart. The hangars had long since rusted or been boarded up, several of the guard towers looked like they were about to fall over if you looked at them wrong, the wire fences had either been taken down or cut open (probably by teens who came here to party) and finally the disassembled and graffiti-covered remains of a jeep. Driving into through the open gates and parking the van in the shadow of one of the hangars, the two stepped out and looked at each other before shrugging. Nick took a deep breath and walked further into the base grounds while Finnick stayed to guard the car. The strange silence was eerie to the vulpine, and he had a hard time imagining how anyone could live here. Then again, this was Honey he was looking for.

"HONEY! HEY! ARE YA HERE GIRL?! IT'S ME, NICK!" He yelled out in the hope of getting some kind of response, but all he was met with was silence. "Dammit… Where is could she be?"

Just then, Nick's twitched as he could have sworn he heard something move behind him, but when looking back he couldn't see anything besides junk and rusty buildings. But just as he turned and moved forward, he smacked right into a familiar, pudgy form, which made him to jump back in fright. Then just as unexpectedly his hand was grabbed and the fox found himself sailing trough the air and smacking down hard with his back to the ground, which kicked up a major cloud of dust around him. He coughed and groaned in pain, and as soon as the dust cleared, Nick saw that looming right over him was the honey badger, now dressed in a pair of loose, camouflaged pants, a green tank top that exposed her muscular arms, a bandana on her forehead and her trademark goggles covering her eyes. Judging by her expression, she was not pleased to see the fox.

"Damn…! Honey, it's just me, Nick!" The fox exclaimed as he flailed his hands and tried to get back on his feet.

"I know, just be glad that I've already taken my pills today. Now what's the big idea, escaping like that?!" She exclaimed, glaring at him like he was a little kit who had just set his classroom on fire. "First Judy goes missing, and then you are running away?! I was worried sick damn you!"

"I know, I know and I'm sorry, but I had no other choice! Listen, I found out where Judy is and I need your help" Nick said, holding his hands in the air. "After we save her, THEN you can pound me into pancake batter!"

Looking down at Nick in silence, Honey then walked passed him. The fox blinked in confusion, then straightened himself and started following her. They soon arrived at what seemed like an entrance to some kind of underground bunker. Going down a few stairs and passing through an open vault door, Nick discovered that the interior wasn't very big; clearly made for least four people at most. The walls were composed of thick steel-plates, and on the floor were several aluminum raceways for cables, which looked like fairly modern installations.

"So, this is your home?" Nick finally asked, as he looked around and also noticed that it looked considerably better kept than the rest of the base.

"Yeah, it's not much but it's home." Honey said, welcoming Nick into one of the rooms, which looked like Honey's. How one could tell? Well, the insane amount of sheep-related conspiracy crap decorating the walls like some kind of chaotic tapestry was a dead give away, along with a few chalk boards covered in photos and SUPER old news clippings  
He also spotted three framed photographs resting on an old coffee table, the first photo depicting Honey in a military uniform of all things, only here she was a lot slimmer and flexing her biceps proudly, the mohawk still present (making Nick wonder if Honey was born with hair like that) and standing next to half a dozen other soldiers and a female fox with white fur, a pair of reading glasses and a secretary outfit with a very short skirt. The next photo depicted Honey with a male badger, both of them in their wedding clothes and Honey showcasing a pregnant stomach. The final photo was of her, two kids and her husband during what seemed to be a cruise. Hearing a soft sigh, Nick looked at Honey, who was directing a melancholic towards the third photo.

"Your kids look adorable," Nick said and looked back at the image.

"Yeah… They were sweet," Honey whispered.

"W-Where are they now?" Nick asked before he could stop himself, looking back at Honey from the corner of her eyes and seeing that the badger was changing her clothes. He quickly looked away, though he did spot a tattoo on Honeys back that seemed to say, "Don't blink at death."

"At a much better place, Nick," Honey replied, slipping on a new t-shirt and a jacket over it. "Better than I could give them anyway."

Nick blinked, but then just gave off a simple nod as he watched Honey adjust her clothes. The two left the bunker in silence and started making their way back to the van.

"Is that an ice-cream truck?" Honey asked in disbelief as soon as she noticed the vehicle, her eyes widening as they got fixed on the giant pawsicle on its roof. "Oh my God, it is an ice-cream truck! And who's that little guy?"

"That's Finnick, an old friend of mine. And don't worry about the ride, it's a lot smoother than it looks," Nick replied and waved at Finnick, who at first looked very bored, but as he got a good look at the one accompanying the fox, suddenly seemed to turn uncharacteristically ecstatic. As the two approached, the fennec moved over to the passenger seat and opened the door for Honey.

"If you allow me, miss~" He said, flashing a playboy-like grin, which made Honey blink a few times and then giggle, all the while Nick rolled his eyes.

"Oh my, how gentlemanly~" She murmured and gently petted Finnick on the head before stepping into the car. "And such a cutie~"

Waving his eyebrows at her, Finnick then closed the door behind her. As the fennec turned, he was met with an un-amused Nick.

"Really Finn? You're gonna make me sit in the back?" He asked while tapping his foot in annoyance. "I'm supposed to be leading this assault, what gives?"

The fennec gave the fox a tired look.

"Tell you what Nick, if you grow a pair of breasts, and I might feel more inclined to let you ride shotgun next time."

Leaving Nick with a stunned look, Finnick walked over to the drivers seat and got in.

"Talk about gender-based discrimination…!" The red fox muttered and climbed into the back of the van. During the ride he gave Honey a quick explanation as to where Judy was held, or least where he theorized where she was, plus the basics of his plan.

* * *

Upon arriving at the needed address, which was located in a desolate part of the desert zone, the trio caught sight of a five-story apartment complex; it's windows dark and boarded up, betraying no sign of life within.  
This whole area, deceivingly named the Green Spot, had once been a lively and decent neighborhood, but after the relaying of several underground pipes that had initially provided it with much needed irrigation, pretty much all the inhabitants had been forced to relocate and leave this place to be taken back by the desert.

Looking at his friends, Nick unzipped the duffel bag and grabbed the SG and Glock 17. Finnick grabbed the SPAS 12 and one of the Operators, while Honey picked the SCAR and the second operator. They then proceeded to check their guns and divide the ammo clips and flash bangs among themselves.

"You sure this is the place, Nicky?" Honey asked, looking around. "I don't see any footprints or tire tracks… Any chance that you got fed a bogus tip?"

"I don't think so, at least not after the deal I made with Midnight," Nick muttered and looked at the complex through the car window. "Besides, this place is perfect for keeping a low profile. There isn't any neighbor for at least a mile, the whole location is pretty inconspicuous, and the winds constantly sweep any tracks away. If I had kidnapped anyone, this would be a good place to keep them."

"Yeah, but a whole complex? Any place with a soundproof basement would've been fine," Finnick said while shaking his head. "Certainly would've been cheaper than buying a dump like this off a leech like Midnight."

"It's certainly big, which gives the bad guys more places to jump out from. It also makes it more difficult to find Judy," Honey added.

"Which is why we need to be careful, cause if they smell trouble, we're not gonna have many options. So… Just stay safe guys, okay? I have no idea how many of them there is."

"Don't worry about us Slick, just follow your own advice," Finnick said, right before cocking his shotgun.

"Let's teach these assholes a lesson," Honey exclaimed and shook her fist while baring her fangs.

And with that they stepped out of the van and headed towards the building.  
-


	16. Chapter 16: Overdose

_Authors Notice: Sooo..Heeey! Look what's back..soo..hmmm...to be honest I've had this story finished a while ago, but upon looking on the previous chapters, I wasn't particularly happy with them..mmm..and that's why I've been trying to re-work the later chapters in hopes of improving._

Chapter 16: Overdose

During his time in the academy, Nick was taught many things that a police officer should know: how to handle weaponry, taking down perps, self-defense (though he would spice these moves up with his own style of dirty fighting) and naturally, he had to put all of that to use at any given moment. However, as he stepped into the forgotten crack house, Nick couldn't help feeling that all those lessons had vacated themselves from his mind and moved to Florida.

One issue with having Judy for a partner was that she was so eager and proficient at these things, that it was kind of easy to take a backseat position and simply provide backup. Because of this, now that she was gone, it felt like Nick was out of practice and unsure of what to do.

He had no idea how many were inside the old crackhouse; every corner and every door was a potential spot for an ambush, he had no way of knowing how many were inside the vicinity, how well-armed they were or where they could be holding Judy. Just then, Nick felt a hand on his shoulder, looking back to see Honeys concerned face.

"Hey, you alright Nicky?" She asked.

"Y-Yeah Honey, just trying to process this, that's all," the fox replied, giving his usual cocky grin before moving his gaze towards the staircase. "There's just so many places for blank spots."

"Yeah, and lots of ground to cover." Finnick piped in and wiped his nose. "Do you think we should split up?"

"I'd suggest against that," Honey added, her eyes darting around. "That would make us kinda easy to pick off."

"Yeah, if we were in a horror movie," Finnick added. "But we're armed and got the element of surprise on our side… Unless that piece of shit Midnight sold us out."

Nick thought about what the two said; on one hand Finnick had a point. If they split up they could find Judy faster. But, Honey also had a point, and he'd seen enough movies to know that splitting up was usually a mistake. Biting his lower lip, the fox weighted both pros and cons before looking at his companions with a determined look.

"I think we should split up, the sooner we find Carrots, the faster we can get out of here. We'll keep contact through our cellphones, so that when we find something important, we can update the other about it. Just make sure to mute the sound," he muttered, his gaze moving up against against a staircase nearby. "I'll take the second floor, Fin, you go to the third and Honey, you cover this one. We'll rendezcous here right after doing a sweep."

The two nodded in silence as they prepared their weapons, before going up Nick stopped and looked back at his friends.

"No heroics, you hear me? If you find Judy or run into any trouble, don't go in guns blazing. Just text Clawhauser and tell him to get everything the force can muster to this adress."

"But Nick, if they find you here, they'll arrest you for escaping," Honey said. "You may even have to give up your badge…"

Nick looked at the badger and gave off a long sigh.

"I know… I knew that the moment I decided to run away. But it doesn't matter what happens to me, as long as Judy comes out of this alive."

Honey and Finnick shared a look, before turn their heads back and giving the fox an understanding nod. Nick took a deep breath and then proceeded up the stairs. Honey continued down the corridor of the first floor.

* * *

Little did any of them know that their element of surprise weren't even present to begin with, as hidden within a large hole in a nearby wall, was a hidden camera that had already streamed everything to a control room that was located in the basement of the building. There, among the illuminated monitors, was a pair of eyes that watched the trio go their separate paths. The owner of these eyes smiled and began to type a message on his phone, which he shared through a furbook-group, deviously titled "The Rabbiting."

"Gentlemen, it seems we have some guests~" He wrote and incorporated a GIF of a cartoon fly that desperately tried to escape from a spider-net. He then continued: "Please, give show them some hospitality, while I prepare the hostess~"

* * *

In the meantime, Judy was desperately trying to pick the lock for the handcuff on her leg, using a metall-spring from the mattress she was sitting on. She mentally cursed the fact that it wasn't as easy as it looked like on MacGyver.  
Just then, she heard the locks on the door unlocking. She quickly placed the spring in the back-pocket of her pants shifted into a less conspicuous position. As the door opened, a pair of masked rams stepped into the room, one of them armed with a pump action shotgun; Judy eyed the two with silence and venom. But the two clearly didn't care for those stares, as the one without the shotgun grabbed the chain from the cuffs and pulled Judy closer.

"Seems like your friends arrived ahead of time." The ram murmured, making Judy's eyebrow go up. "So, we're gonna change our plans a wee bit~"

The gears in Judy's head began to turn, wondering who it could be that had managed find her so soon. However, those thoughts were pushed away, as the ram grabbed her shirt and began to pull it up.

"H-Hey! The hell you doing!" Judy exclaimed, trying her best to struggle against it.

The ram didn't respond, as he slipped her shirt over her head, and then grabbed her by her throat and proceed to rip her pants off. He then whistled upon seeing just in her undergarments, his eyes scanning her legs as Judy noticed a hunger in them that didn't like at all.

"Not a bad little bod on this bunny-wabbit, eh Ted?" He spoke to the other ram, and his hoof travelled across her right hip. Judy tensed up, and her instinctively reached for her pants, which had been tossed behind ber.

The other ram, the one called "Ted" gave his colleague a disdainful look.

"We don't have the time for this Bill."

The one called "Bill" gave off a disappointed groan as moved his face closer to Judy's, failing to notice what her was grasping behind her back.

"Too bad… She's all smooth and tiny, like a stuffed toy. I'd wouldn't mind adding some extra stuff-"

Bills disgusting suggestions were halted and replaced with a pained scream as Judy jammed a metal-spring straight into his face. The ram reeled back from her while clutching his right eye, where a thick stream of blood began to ooze and travel down his cheek. Judy hissed in anger,

"Ngh…F-Fucking b-bitch! I-I'll rip your head for this!" The ram snarled, being in too much pain to do anything else.

"Serves you right you disgusting freak," Ted muttered, showing not a shred of sympathy for Bill. "The boss wants her alive and intact for this, so if you decide to go against her orders, you deserve anything you get!"

After saying this, Ted moved forward towards Judy, gazing at her with intense dislike.

"Give us a smile, why don't you? You're gonna be on TV soon."

And before Judy could process this new information, the butt of the shotgun connected with her face. She could only perceive a flash of light before the darkness consumed her.

"F-F-Fucking..p-pred..l..lover.." Bill mumbled to himself, as he carefully tried to remove the spring.

* * *

The beeping of the alarm clock was sudden, causing the ocelot's eyes to slowly open. Sitting up, she scanned her surroundings and found herself in someone's bedroom. Her clothes were tossed around the room, and by the looks of it, so were the clothing of somebody else. Turning her head, she noticed a male caracal sleeping next to her; that's when she recalled where she was and what has happened between her and her neighbor. Rubbing her eyes, she mentally chastised herself for letting it go this far.

It had been pleasant enough. Initially Christopher had been a little too careful, as he had noticed more of her bruises the further they went. But after some coaxing and assurances, they had managed to reach a passionate rhythm, which Alexi's hadn't experienced in quite a while. Sure, whenever she had tand itch, she had found ways to scratch it, but this had been different. More… Full-filling one might say.

Looking at him again, she gently stroke his cheek, before carefully getting out of bed. Putting her clothes back on, Alexis was thinking about what she had to do next; there was no way she could continue with her job or stay at this place after this. The best option would be to move to a different location, and tell Christopher that she had simply been caught in the moment. Adjusting her tie, she looked again at how blissfully he slept, bringing a faint smile to the Ocelots muzzle.

"I'm sorry…" She mumbled before leaving the room.

However, as she opened the door and was about to leave the apartment, she found the doorway blocked by another female. Taking a step back, Alexis saw that it was another caracal, looking like she was somewhere in her 30's, her clothing being a simple Burgundy dress and with a bag slumped over her shoulder. Alexis quickly recognized the girl as Christopher's older sister, recalling the picture she had seen of his family.

The two stared at each other for a couple of seconds, before the girl huffed in surprise and finally spoke.

"Oh..mm…Pardon me, I must be at the wrong door," she said and cracked an apologetic smile. "I could have sworn this was the right apa-"

But then she froze and tilted her head to the side with an amused expression, prompting Alexis to look back and seeing Christopher coming out the bedroom. Mentally she thanked him for putting some pants on, it was a shame that he hadn't put the same effort into finding a shirt.  
Rubbing his eyes, he then slipped on his glasses and then instantly meeped. Alexis turned her head back, and noticed a strange little smile on the other female's lips, as well as a glimmer in her eyes.

"Well, it's about time my little brother got a girl at his place," she purred. "He didn't even bother to inform me about this occasion."

"I..I..I didn't know you were gonna come today," Chris stammered and swallowed nervously. "An..and..It's not w-what you think..I..m..she..we..mm…"

"Oh relax, I'm just messing with you," the sister murmured before stepping inside. "Maybe now mom and dad will get off your case."

"Oi, Aafia quit it!" Christopher exclaimed, his cheeks growing hotter from embarrassment.

Aafia giggled, as she looked back at Alexis, before looking back at her younger brother once again.

"So how long have you been dating her?" She asked in their native language. "And why didn't you least tell me? I get mom and dad, but c'mon little bro!"

"I..I..It just..Happened s-so suddenly." Christopher muttered under his breath, as he was struggled to come up with a proper explanation.

"I forgot the keys to my place, your brother was nice enough to let me stay" Alexis spoke out, getting surprised stares, especially from Chris. "I apologize for the misunderstanding or making the wrong impression. I'm Sally Babou by the way."

Aafia blinked, but then smiled as she took Alexi's hand and shook it gently, but was surprised by how firm the Ocelots palm felt.

"Well, pleasure to meet you. I'm Aafia," the female caracal murmured sweetly. "Gotta say, you are quite fluent. You travel or something?"

"Heh, not exactly I just work as a адвокатом (lawyer), so I learned a little bit," the ocelot lied once more, flashing her best friendly smile. "It..mm..Means I'm a lawyer, sorry sometimes I tend to speak in Russian."

"Really now? Kinda rare to see a lawyer living in this part of the city," Aafia noted. "Well, still pleasure to meet you. Not surprised my lil' bro helped you. He's a sweetie like that~"

Blushing deeper, Christopher looked at Alexis and noticed her giving him a quick wink before heading for the door, as she then was stopped by feeling Christopher's hand in her palm. Looking back, she saw him giving a soft smile as he then whispered under his breath.

"T-Thank you..f-for covering for me..and..m..f-for last night," he whispered.

Giving a faint smile back, Alexis nodded.

"Thank you for being such a gentleman. That is very rare these days," she said and then left the apartment.

As soon as she stepped into her flat, the Ocelot slid down against the door as she rubbed her eyes and then punching the door with her bandaged up palm.

"Stupid, sentimental bitch…" She muttered to herself, and then made her way towards her bedroom.

Once inside, she removed her jacket as she pulled out the revolver from the holster (it had been a pure miracle that Chris hadn't noticed it last night). Putting a bullet in it, the ocelot spinned the chamber and then pressed the barrel to her head, feeling her finger press against the trigger. She wanted to pull it, but for some reason, her finger didn't move. Her grip around the gun tightened so hard that her fingers grew pale, but she still couldn't do it. She dropped the gun on the floor and then simply dropped onto her bed, staring at the ceiling.

* * *

Stealthily trudging through the old house, Nick kept all of his senses on full alert. However, with the strange mixture of smells that infested this place, it was pretty damn hard to catch Judy's scent or that of the kidnappers. Still, he made sure to keep careful, and as he checked every room he saw the same picture every time: old mattresses stained with whatever fluids imaginable to one's mind, empty bottles, syringes, some broken furniture and boarded up windows. But Nick soldiered on, until his ears twitched to a strange sound coming from around the corner; the fox felt his heart rate grow to a rapid pace.

Okay…calm down you idiot. Control your breathing Nick thought to himself as he crept towards the corner. Just relax…count to five…inhale…count to five and exhale…

As he managed to steady his heart and breathing, he carefully peeked around the corner and noticed two figures moving into one of the rooms on the left. By the look of it, he seemed to have a perfect drop in on them. He probably should've waited for Honey and Finnick; but time felt like it was of the essence, and he needed to find some sort of concrete evidence that his partner was here before he could contact the force, so the fox decided to risk it. Sneaking closer, he then peeked through and saw two rams as they were busy talking about something; just as the fox was ready to pounce out he suddenly felt a cold piece of metal pressed against the back of his head.

"Drop the gun, jail-breaker," said the voice behind Nick, making the fox curse and drop his firearm. "Good boy~"

Looking back, Nick narrowed his eyes as he met face to face with the familiar, fatty frame of a raccoon. Flashing his sharp teeth, the raccoon pulled back the hammer of the pistol, his eyes narrowing.

"Tch….Why am I not surprised, that you'd be here?" Nick growled, as the fox pulled out his pistol and tossed it away as well. "Where is Judy you smug little bastard?"

"Oh, don't you worry, you'll see her soon enough~" Richter purred, as he then whacked Nick on the back of her head. "Though I can't say that said meeting will be a happy one~"

As the vulpine collapsed on the floor, Richter nodded at the two figures, who dragged Nick into the room.

Meanwhile, on the floor above, Finnick was having his own troubles. He had just approached an open from which the fennec had heard some movement. Gritting his teeth, he carefully opened the door. Just as he did a barrage of bullets flew out. The fennec cursed under his breath and jumped the side, waiting for the shooting to stop; for once he was happy about his low stature, as if he had been just a bit taller, his head would've been like Swiss cheese by now. His ears twitched to the sound of empty clips hitting the ground; that was the sign to go. Pulling out one of the flashbang grenades, he pulled out a pin and then tossed the grenade into the room before going back into cover. A loud bang and flash came from the room, followed by yelps of pain; smirking Finnick rushed inside blasting the two thugs away; exhaling he dropped against the flipped over table. He eyed the two dead thugs while the smell of gunpowder and blood entered his nostrils.

"The things I do for this idiot…" Finnick muttered and pulled out his cellphone. He considered this evidence enough, and was about to text Clawhauser when he heard a sound coming from down below. He noticed a quarter-sized hole in the floor nearby and decided to peek through it. "What the hell…?"

Below him, the fennec could see a barely conscious Nick being strapped to an operating table with two rams and a raccoon looming over him, along with a sheep. Blinking several times, Finnick could see his friend starting to come back to his senses while one of the rams produced what was clearly a ZPD tranq pistol, but instead of a common knock out dart,as the sheep loaded it with a transparent dart with that contained a strange, yellow liquid.

"Ngh..T-The hell you bastards planning?!" Nick asked, growling as he tried to break free from his binds, but then noticed the tranq pistol. "Hey, I'd like to let you know that I already had my shots this year."

"Humph..Very funny, you stupid pred," the sheep said, as he pressed Nick's face on the table while aiming at the gun at his shoulder. "Let's see how well you'll crack jokes after this."

Then, Nick felt the liquid getting injected into him.

Looking through the hole in horror, Finnick could first his friend laying still. But then, all of a sudden, the he began to trash around and scream in pain and fury. His fur began to stand up, his claws coming out as he snarled, frothed at the mouth and tried to get loose and attack the people that stood around him.

"Well, well seems like our new formula works better than expected," the ram said. "I think he's quite ready for his hunt."

The other ram placed a muzzle and a leash onto Nick's face. Finnick had enough, sending a panicky message to Clawhauser before rushing down the stairs in order to find Honey. In his mind, the fennec was practically praying to whatever Gods, that Judy was safe and the paramedics could help Nick.


	17. Chapter 17: Single Bullet theory

Chapter 17: Single bullet theory

A deep groan escaped from Judy's mouth, as the bunny sat up. She rubbed her aching head, which felt like someone had put a pot over it and then went to town with a hammer. Looking around, she saw that she was sitting on the floor inside a small room and that she was naked save for her undergarments and an unfamiliar device which was attached to her right; it looked like a wristwatch with built-in calculator.

Standing-up on wobbly legs, she then caught sight of a metal door on her left side. In contrast to the room, which was dusty and abandoned-looking, the door seemed brand new. Approaching it, she then noticed that a barcode scanner was installed just beneath the doorknob and that a note was attached to it. Raising her eyebrow, Judy snatched the note and began to read through its printed content.

"Hello Judy, how are you? Confused I predict, and maybe a bit scared. Well, I wouldn't blame you. Far be it from me to keep you in such suspense, so I will cut to the chase: You are about to be part of a little game, and the goal of it is simple: Stay alive. The device on your wrist will let you enter rooms, where you may find weapons or items that will help you do so.

I hope you enjoy this, it's all for you! Sincerely, an old friend.

P. S. This time it's for real, clever girl."

Narrowing her eyes, Judy growled, crumpled the note and tossed it away. So, someone wanted to play with her? Well, whoever it was, was going to rue the day they even tried.

Still, there was something undeniably unsettling about this setup. Why would they want her to have access to weapons? And against what exactly? And why on Earth did they take off her clothes?! The note hadn't been signed, but she had a good idea of who it was. Out of all the criminals that she and Nick had put away, ex-mayor Dawn Bellwether was the only one that was intelligent and demented enough to pull a stunt like this. Besides, it made sense considering that her kidnappers were the same sort of rams that she and Nick had struggled with the day they had blown the lid off the whole Nighthowler-affair.

Taking a deep breath, Judy extended her device-clad arm to the barcode scanner, at which the door clicked, and she opened it. She carefully peeked outside and made sure that the coast was clear, seeing nothing but what seemed to be a large and dark basement. The smell indicated that the location was either used as a bathroom or that the sewer system needed a good update. Coughing a little, Judy then noticed what seemed to be a camera mounted high up on one of the walls. This urged the bunny produce a rude hand gesture to it. While the action might have been juvenile in nature, it did manage to make her feel a bit better.

As she kept going and tried to locate some sort of exit, she thought back and wondered again what she was supposed to survive against. Booby-traps? Or maybe those thugs from before were hiding down here somewhere, armed to the teeth and just waiting come charging out of the shadows. Hardly original, considering all the horror movies which followed the same format.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Judy gave her surroundings another quick look and then made her way towards the left part of the basement, deciding to start her search for an exit, weapons or maybe some clothing… God knows what infection she could get if she got scratched or injured here. Approaching one of the nearby doors, she extended her arm, heard the beep from the scanner and peeked inside.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me…" Judy muttered, seeing only a pair of her own pants (without her utility belt) and what seemed to be a pocket knife.

Sighing, she grabbed the stuff and made sure the knife wasn't dull (just in case she had to use it), after which she set out down the corridor. However, just then a strange feeling was creeping up her back. She stopped and looked back, but saw nothing but darkness. She couldn't describe what it was, but it felt quite familiar and somehow ancient. Judy felt her whiskers twitching, along with her nose as her brain began to realize what this feeling was.

It felt like danger.

Swallowing, she hurried towards the next door, moving as fast as her feet allowed her. The next door wasn't as giving as the last; the moment she opened it a shot rang out and bruised Judy's shoulder. She yelped and hissed in pain. Clenching her injury, the bunny saw some of her blood drop on the floor below her. She had been lucky though. If she had been standing just a little more to the left, the shot would've probably gone through her throat…!

Then a deep growl escaped from the distance, prompting Judy to curse and race over to the next door. After another beep, Judy carefully peeked inside. This room, unlike the others, was empty.  
The bunny could now hear the footsteps of a mysterious hunter getting closer and closer. After more curses, Judy rushed over to another door. Judging by the sound it was clearly something big tracking her; she felt that she would need something better than a pocketknife to help her against that. However, it seemed luck had decided to give Judy a break, as the next door held a Glock 17 with a single clip for it; grabbing the weapon and popping the clip into to the gun. Now armed and ready, the bunny's eyes narrowed as she faced the door, gun trained at it. The snarling was getting closer, meaning that whatever it was it was had caught her scent by now. Judy felt her heart rate go up as it got closer. Taking a deep breath, she got ready for the fight. However, as soon as the target was in sight and crawled into the light on all fours, Judy froze. Her eyes went wide and she lowered her pistol.

"N-N-Nick...?" She asked, staring at her partner who was busy growling at her. "No…! My God Nick, w-what have they done to you?"

However, instead of getting an answer the vulpine pounced on her. Judy's survival instinct kicked in, and she ducked right under the fox and quickly ran towards the door; Nick spun around and went after her. Looking back, Judy bit her lip, took aim and fired several times. She had shot at floor and walls in hopes that the gunshots would scare Nick away. Unfortunately, the fox paid no heed to the noise, even when dust from the bullet holes began to cake his fur. A soft click escaped the gun, which meant the bullets had all been spent. And if Judy's luck wasn't bad enough, she suddenly found herself backed up against a dead end. She changed her grip on the pistol and held it before her like a baton, watching her friend and partner slowly approach her, froth escaping from the corner of his mouth and his mad eyes bloodshot beyond recognition.

"Nick, please snap out of it." Judy whispered. Her hands were shaking, and a little voice in the back of her head said she should bring out the knife, but that would be entirely too dangerous for her partner! "It's me, Judy. Don't make me do something I'll regret..."

A ferocious bark was all she got in response, indicating that he couldn't hear or understand her. Biting her lower lip, Judy prepared for the fight, ready to strike her friend with the empty gun. Neither of the two moved for a while. Both their hearts were beating in a perfect rhythm, and just as Judy let out a soft gasp Nick rushed at her. Instead of ducking under him like last time, Judy kicked off from a nearby wall, delivering a strong blow to Nick's jaw which sent the crazed vulpine slamming into the wall. Using the momentum, she dropped the gun and quickly jumped on his back. Grabbing his arm and locking him in a classic police-grip, Judy held on for her dear life as Nick trashed around. But, he still managed to jump up and slam her against a wall; gritting her teeth from the pain, the bunny fell down. As she was about to get up, she saw Nick getting ready to tackle her; reluctantly, she finally unsheathed the blade and slashed Nick across his left arm, making the vulpine yelp and miss his target, though his claws still grazed her shoulder. Using this moment, Judy jumped on his back once again in two easy hops.

"Dammit Nick, it's me you idiot! CARROTS!" Judy yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping to get through him "Try and remember me, you orange furred moron!"

"Car…Car…." The fox suddenly muttered, making Judy nearly loosen her grip on him "Car...rots…"

"Yes, yes it's me you dolt! C'mon Nick, I know you must be there somewhere!" Judy hissed, her grip tightening "I know you're somewhere in there, you sly fox!"

Letting out another deep growl, he kept struggling against Judy's grip, but the bunny could tell that it wasn't as hard as before. Maybe by some weird miracle, he was trying to fight whatever it was that had affected his body and mind. Letting out a pained yell, he dropped to the ground clenching his head hissing and growling. Mustering some courage, Judy approached Nick.

"Ju...dy...must not'...hurt...Ju..dy...fri..end.." Nick said between grunts and snarls "Ju...dy...please...h-h-h..help..meee..."

"Shhh..Shhh..I'm here Nick..sssh..." Judy whispered as she held him by his cheeks. "You'll be fine slick, just hold on..."

Soft whimpers escaped from Nick's mouth, while Judy pressed his head against her chest as she began to hum a soft melody to calm down her suffering friend. As this was happening, the entire ordeal was observed through the hidden cameras, as on the other end, both Moony and Richter looked like they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Seems like your plan has failed," Richter grumbled. Moony didn't respond and instead turned away while texting someone. "Oi! You hear me you fluffy moron! The plan fucking bombed and its on your head!"

The sheep suddenly grabbed Richter by the neck and pressed him against the wall, his face being inches away from the now frightened coon.

"Don't get smart with me, you little prick, you hear?" Moony hissed, as his grip then loosened up

"This plan may have failed, but there's still Plan B. Now c'mon, we better get out of here before the cops arrive."

Richter panted heavily, but nodded as he followed after the sheep while rubbing his neck.

* * *

"What do you mean Nick has gone berserk?!" Honey yelled, hurrying after Finnick, since he didn't really give a good explanation on the phone.

"You heard me the first damn time!" The fennec replied, jumping over a set of stairs. "I saw those bastards inject him with something and it made him go bonkers. Just like during the NightHowler break out!"

Honey's eyes went wider than saucers finally realizing what Finnick was talking about. If things were bad, now they were absolutely going FUBAR and fast; now it was Honey who was praying for Judy's safety and well being. Following Finnick, the two arrived to the basement, and saw that the door had several locks covering it along with what seemed like a strange scanner. Biting his lower lip, Finnick studied the scanner carefully.

"Mmmm... Do you think you could hack this?"

His question was promptly answered by Honey's foot, which shot out and struck the door like battering ram. The door gave after and fell apart, while the many locks remained stuck to the right of the doorway.

"Yes," Honey said. "But that would take too much time."

Finnick gave the badger a wide-eyed look. Then the two hurried down the basement.

"JUDY! JUDY! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Honey yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping to get some response. "Please tell me you're safe!"

Then, both she and Finnick heard a whimper coming from nearby; both looked at each other as they prepared for the worst as they got their guns ready. Peeking around, they gasped seeing both Judy and Nick, with the first thankfully being alive and well. Seeing her friends approaching, the bunny quickly made a shush sound as they nodded with Honey barely holding herself from hugging Judy tightly.

"We've sent Clawhauser a message, the cavalry should hopefully be here with the medics," Finnick whispered, as Judy gave a nod, "Me and Honey were already prepared for the worst..."

"Heh, well guess I just have a lucky rabbits foot," Judy replied, flashing a little smile. "Just, glad to have you guys here."

The celebration was short lived, as they heard a car engine getting started, looking at each other in silence. Honey then handed Judy her SCAR and Operator.

"Go get 'em Jude; I'll make sure Nicky is safe." Honey whispered, as they switched place "Just make sure these bastards pay."

"Humph, don't worry Honey." Judy murmured, heading with Finnick towards the exit "I'm gonna bring them all in!"

* * *

Sitting in her dark apartment, Alexis stared at the revolver in silence. The single bullet which it had contained rested on the table before her. She had always believed that everyone had their bullet; with the time, date and place written on it. Even she had one waiting for her, and at some point it would probably find her; yet now she had actually felt fear. Fear to pull the trigger, fear that she might have actually come across the bullet in the chamber, fear...of death? The thought of that was starting to anger her; gritting her teeth, she grabbed the gun and quickly popped the bullet in. Spinning the chamber, she placed the gun at her temple as she desperately tried to pull the trigger. Nothing, not matter how much she tried, she just couldn't muster the strength for it. Gritting her teeth even harder, she slammed the gun on the table; her breathing becoming heavy while anger boiled in her. Who was she angry at? Herself for becoming so damn weak...Christopher, for making her feel like this...Was she angry at the world? Of course she was, because it couldn't kill her for so damn long, despite every opportunity. The anger wasn't subsiding, it just kept on rising further and further feeling like it was approaching its eruption; she wanted to burn down the whole world to the ground, she wanted to murder everyone in her sight. Suddenly a beep interrupted her train of thought; fishing out her cellphone she saw a text message from Moony.

"Things have changed; we're going for Plan B." The first part of the text said, as Alexis scrolled down "Grab your guns and help us! We're heading for the old Toy factory in the city center."

Narrowing her eyes, the ocelot tossed the phone on the table as she made her way towards her bedroom. Pulling out a case from underneath her bed, which contained a light body vest, a modified CA-415 rifle, two P30L's, a single Glock 26 some ammo for said weapons some for her DTA Stealth Recon Scout which waited in the car trunk. Slipping the vest on, and making sure her guns were holstered along with the clips, the rifle resting in a duffel bag as well as the ammo for it. Grabbing the bag, she made her way towards the door, but then stopped as something caught her eye.

Turning her head, she stared at her reflection, approaching closer she then touched her cheek just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. But, it indeed did feel wet and so did her paw; letting out an angry snarl she suddenly punched the mirror with her bandaged hand. Pulling it back slowly, she stared at blood dripping from her palm for a few seconds, and then casually wiped it away. Slipping on her shades, she was about to head towards the elevator she heard a cough. Turning her head, she saw Christopher standing in his doorway, blinking several times.

"Hey..mm...Are you going somewhere?" He asked, his eyes aimed at the duffel bag "Me and Aafia wanted to invite you for lunch and well..mm..ya know watch some movies with us."

"I am leaving." Alexis muttered, not wanting to make eye contact with the Caracal.

"Oh, when will you be back?" He asked, taking a step closer "Like, we can wait for you and..."

"I won't be coming back." Alexis replied, her voice sounding cold and detached.

That response made Christopher raise his eyebrow, as he then approached her even closer and then carefully put his hand on her shoulder. When he did that, he felt her body start to tense up while her tail began to wag faster; a clear sign she was quite angry.

"Sally, if this is about that bastard," he began, making her body tense up even more. "I can make some calls about it an-"

"Shut up," Alexis cut him off, removing her shades and staring at Chris coldly "Just...shut up, understand?"

Christopher swallowed nervously, but gave a silent nod. Giving a soft sigh, the ocelot slowly stroked his cheek as she leaned over and gave him a gentle peck on the lips. Pulling away, she slipped her shades back on and then turned away, leaving the caracal standing dumbfounded with a deep blush on his face.

"You're a good kid, Christopher and it was nice to meet you," she murmured making her way towards the elevator. "But this life sadly isn't for me."

"S-Sally w-w-wait," Christopher yelled, trying to catch up with her. "What do you mean not for you?!"

"Alexis...My name is Alexis." The ocelot responded, as the elevator doors closed after her.

Standing in the corridor, Christopher blinked several times as his brain tried to process everything, before finally whispering.

"Alexis...Please be safe."


End file.
